


I Didn't Fall For You (You Fucking Tripped Me)

by allwaswell16



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Harry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Sex, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Epilogue in Harry's pov, Explicit Sexual Content, Grey Sweatpants, Hate to Love, Humor, Knotting, Lizards, Louis has a pet monitor lizard just go with it, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Louis, POV Louis, Pets, Rimming, Smut, side Bressie, side Ziam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-04-21 03:41:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14276154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allwaswell16/pseuds/allwaswell16
Summary: These days Louis tends to steer clear of dating alphas. He’s dated too many knotheads in his time, and he’s ready to just focus on school and his friends and his pet monitor lizard, of course.Too bad the alpha next door won’t take a hint and stop using the worst pick up lines of all time on him. He’s really got to stop laughing with him--and talking to him and walking to class with him and letting him bring him coffee and tea and gifts for his lizard and watching Netflix together and...





	1. You Look Like My Next Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

> Well. I'm not sure what I have to say for myself, but surely everyone was clamoring for a college abo lizard fic with bad pick up lines, right?? 
> 
> The title idea was from a random photo of some paper that suddenclarityharry sent that had that bad pick up line on it and led me to decide to write this thing in the first place. So you can direct all complaints to her. lol. Actually, it's her fault there's a monitor lizard in this, too. Because it was her idea to do this challenge in the first place. So. 
> 
> My prompt was: #47. The fear that the neighbor’s monitor lizard might sneak in over the balcony.
> 
> This fic was written as part of an ongoing challenge using the book 1000 Feelings For Which There Are No Names for our prompts. To read the other fics written in this challenge, [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/ShortFic_Challenge_For_Which_There_Is_No_Name/works). You can find more information on the challenge [here](https://1000feelingsfics.tumblr.com/) and to reblog the masterpost on tumblr, you can [click here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/159679804243/1000-feelings-for-which-there-are-no-names-prompt).
> 
> It was also written for the [1D Dickprints & Grey Sweatpants Fest](https://1dgreysweatpants.tumblr.com/)!

Louis looks appreciatively at the large enclosure that Liam has just finished creating. As soon as he gets some nice Cypress mulch bedding and some furnishings, he’ll be able to bring his pet monitor lizard to live with him this semester. “Thanks, Liam. I really can’t thank you enough for building this enclosure for Chad. Even if you only did it to score points with Zayn.”

“What? No--I just--but I--” Liam fumbles as his face reddens and his eyes dart to the beautiful dark haired man sitting across the room who gives only a snort in acknowledgement. 

Louis can smell Liam’s scent turn, probably panic. What an alpha. So unable to control his emotions. Louis would roll his eyes, but he feels a little badly that he’s teased him in front of Zayn. It really was awfully nice of him to build this thing, and he  _ is _ really grateful. Louis eyes Zayn who is still pretending to look at his phone instead of the strapping alpha he’s had his eye on since last year. 

“Zayn?”

Zayn tenses. “Yes, Lou?”

“Put Liam out of his misery and go out with him, won’t you?”

Zayn’s neck nearly snaps he looks up at Louis so fast. His dark eyes blaze a hole right through him. “Liam’s never asked me out, Louis, but nice of you to thank him for doing you a favor by creating such an awkward moment.”

These two are both idiots. Guess he must admit omegas have their moments of melodrama, too. He turns to Liam and waves his hand in Zayn’s general direction. For an incredibly good looking alpha, Liam sure seems inept at this. 

“Ummm--Zaynwouldyougotodinnerwithme?” Liam blurts out. 

Louis claps him on the back. “Knew you had it in you, bro.”

Zayn doesn’t look up from his phone, but his cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink. “Pick me up at seven.”

Louis is pretty sure this means he and Liam are now even. He hates to be beholden to any alpha even one as seemingly harmless as Liam. Through the window, he watches Liam practically skip back to the alpha house next door. The only good thing about his part time job at the university bookstore has been becoming friends with Liam.

He turns back to look at Zayn. “Well, I’m gonna head to the pet store and buy some supplies for Chad. You’re welcome by the way.”

“Shut up, Lou.”

“Love you, too, Zayn.”

///

Louis hops on his bike and heads for the pet store across town. It’s a fairly warm day. August heat is always a killer in the Midwest, but he doesn’t really mind the heat so much. It’s a Midwest winter that he despises. Then, he’s stuck taking the bus everywhere. It takes him about twenty minutes to bike to the store, so he’s working up a bit of a sweat by the time he arrives. 

He hops off his bike and locks it to the bike rack outside the store when he hears a deep slow drawl that sends a prickle of sensation across his skin.

“You look like someone I know.”

Louis whips around to see a tall, broad shouldered alpha watching him with a dimpled grin. He recognizes him as one of Liam’s roommates. He’d seen them moving in yesterday. He opens his mouth to explain that he lives next door, but the alpha snaps his fingers as though he’s just thought of the answer.

“I know! You look like my next boyfriend.”

The polite smile on Louis’ face dies an early death. Ugh, alphas. He rolls his eyes. He would have thought Liam would have better taste in friends. “Not a chance.”

He pushes open the glass door and hopes the boy won’t follow him, but he glances back just to be sure. The alpha doesn’t follow though, just watches him for a moment through the storefront before walking away, probably towards the print shop next door.

Louis breathes a sigh of relief and spends a pleasant half hour picking out things for Chad’s enclosure. He doesn’t realize his mistake until he walks out of the store with a giant bag of Cypress mulch bedding. How the fuck is he supposed to get this home on his bike? Damn, he got used to having his mom’s car at home. Maybe Liam can drive him back to get it before he goes on his date with Zayn.  He’s ready to turn around and ask the store to hold the bag for him until he can come back and get it, when an unfortunately familiar voice stops him.

“I’m not a photographer, but I can picture me and you together.”

The look on this boy’s face is ridiculous. His tongue is practically hanging out of his mouth. The really dumb part is he saw this boy in the backyard yesterday with a camera taking photographs of birds. 

“I saw you yesterday with a camera, so you are in fact a photographer of some sort.”

The boy looks at him in surprise. “What? Where?”

Louis waves his arm around. “I live next door to you and Liam and whoever else lives in your dumb alpha house.”

Recognition dawns on the boy’s face. “The lizard guy?”

Louis presses his lips together in a line. “I suppose that’s me.”

“Hey are you buying stuff for your lizard then?” The boy looks at the load of things in his arms. “How are you gonna take all this stuff back on your bike? You know I could give you a ride if you want.”

Louis narrows his eyes suspiciously. “What do you mean by  _ ride?” _

The boy lets out a loud bark of a laugh that seems to take them both by surprise. “I swear I didn’t even mean it like that. Um--hi. I’m Harry by the way. And I really did mean I could give you a ride home in my car. I mean, I apparently live next door to you, so it’s no bother really.”

“Thanks but no thanks, Harry. Don’t think I’ll be accepting  _ rides _ from alphas like you anytime soon.”

Harry frowns. “How are you going to get this stuff back then?”

“I--don’t know,” he admits. “Maybe Liam can bring me back here later to pick up the wood bedding.”

“That seems like a waste when I’m right here anyway,” Harry points out.

Louis shrugs. 

“Just let me help you--” Louis doesn’t provide his name even though that’s clearly what Harry is waiting for.

“--lizard boy,” Harry finishes when Louis doesn’t respond.

“Louis,” he says reluctantly. He doesn’t relish being known as lizard boy even if he does own a lizard. “And here.”

He shoves the bag of mulch into Harry’s arms. “You can escort the mulch home.”

He unlocks his bike and hops on leaving Harry standing there with the large bag in his arms. 

“You’re welcome!” Harry calls after him.

///

When Louis gets home, he looks around for a sign of mulch bedding. It doesn’t appear to have been left on the porch. Well, maybe Harry had actually rang the doorbell and gave the bag to Zayn. 

He walks into the house, but he still doesn’t see a sign of the bag. 

“Zaynie!” He calls out. He listens for a moment and hears the sound of running water. Zayn’s probably taking a shower in anticipation of his big date. Louis takes the steps two at a time and runs down the hallway, bursting into the bathroom to the sounds of Zayn’s sudden screeches.

“Fuck, Lou! What the fuck!”

“Hey, did Harry come by and drop off the mulch?”

“Who?”

“Our neighbor. Liam’s roommate. Did he happen to come by?”

“No. Now get the fuck out of here.”

“Fine,” Louis sighs. It appears Harry still has his Cypress mulch. Great. Everything is great. 

He stomps down the stairs and peers out the window towards Liam’s house. There’s a car parked in front of it that he’s pretty sure is Harry’s car. With a resigned sigh, he walks over to Liam’s and rings the doorbell. 

The door swings open almost immediately to reveal a hulking alpha he hasn’t seen before. 

“Well, hello there.”

Oh great. Maybe he’ll just abandon the mulch.. 

“Fuck off, Bressie,” a voice growls from behind him. “He’s mine.”

This Bressie person sighs and moves aside for Harry to appear in the doorway. “You always find the prettiest ones.”

“I’m not _ yours,” _ Louis says in his most scathing tone. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you do me a favor. Fuck it. Keep the mulch.”

He whirls around and starts back down the porch steps. 

“Wait! Louis! Come back! I have your mulch right here!”

Louis doesn’t wait, and he doesn’t look back. He’s known too many possessive knotheads just like this one. He slams the front door closed behind him so hard it rattles the front windows a bit.

“Fuck, mate. You gonna break our house the first week?”

“Niall!” Louis’ horrible mood instantly vanishes as Niall sweeps him up in a bear hug. “Missed you, bro.”

“Eh, gotta head back to Ireland for summers. Don’t wanna lose my accent and talk like you wankers.”

“When did you get in?”

“About an hour ago. You didn’t even notice me sitting over there when you ran up and scared the fuck outta Zayn in the shower,” Niall says with a laugh. “What were you doing anyway?”

Louis’ dark mood returns. “Alpha problems.”

“You’re seeing an alpha?”

“Fuck no! You know I don’t date alphas anymore. One of the alphas next door is just pissing me off, that’s all.”

“Ah, some things never change.”

At seven o’clock precisely, Liam arrives to pick up Zayn for their date. At the sight of Zayn in tight jeans and a black t-shirt, Liam nearly drops the bag of Cypress mulch bedding for reptiles in his arms. He wordlessly hands over the bag to Louis. 

Louis chuckles to himself as he carries the bag over to the enclosure. He’s glad to be able to set up the enclosure now without having to return to the pet store somehow to get more. As he sets the bag down he notices the note taped to it. 

_ Sorry about earlier. Hope you won’t hold it against me. Let me make it up to you. _

Louis snorts and throws the note in the garbage.

/// 

It seems as though every time Louis steps foot out of his house, Harry happens to be outside. He doesn’t want to be impolite, but he thinks it’s best that he ignore all the friendly waves and toothy grins. Honestly, those dimples are ridiculous. They beg Louis to respond, but no. It’s just not a good idea. He has no interest in Harry, so it’s just better this way. He ignores all of Harry’s waves and smiles as he takes out the trash, as he photographs birds in the trees, as he offers to drive him to class. 

He briefly considers that if Harry were to offer to drive him to class in December, his resolve may waver. He does loathe the bus. But no, surely by then Harry will have found another omega to pester. What had Bressie said? Harry always finds the pretty ones? So surely he’ll soon lose interest in Louis and find some other pretty omega. 

After a shift at the bookstore on Thursday night, Louis comes home to find Zayn cuddled up on the couch with Liam watching a movie. He smiles at the adorable picture they make. He says hello and makes his way into the kitchen for a snack.

“Either of you want anything?” He calls out.

“Grab me a water, will you?” Zayn answers.

He pours himself a bowl of Cocoa Puffs and grabs a bottle of water for Zayn before walking back into the living room. 

“Really? You’re forcing Liam to watch Spiderman with you?” 

Zayn shrugs, but Liam insists that he likes it. 

“Sure, sure, Liam. Although it  _ is _ a great movie.”

“It makes for a nice change really,” Liam says.

“Why’s that?” Louis asks.

“Oh, Harry always insists on watching romantic comedies. I’ve tried telling him that  _ Titanic _ and  _ The Notebook  _ aren’t even comedies, but he doesn’t listen.”

“What the fuck?” Well. That’s a bit odd. 

“Lou loves Titanic,” Zayn points out with a smirk. 

“You should watch it with Harry!” Liam says excitedly. “He’s always looking for someone to watch it with him. He likes to act out scenes from it. He’s always Rose.”

Well, Liam is just full of revelations tonight. “Uh, I really don’t think that--”

“Louis, I think you may have just got off to a bad start with Harry. He’s really a nice guy if you give him a chance.”

Louis makes a rude noise. “No, I think I know exactly who Harry is. Thanks but no thanks.”

“Well, maybe if you just hang out with all of us this weekend, you’ll see that maybe you’re wrong about him.”

“Sorry, Liam. I know you’re trying to be nice, but even if by some miracle Harry turns out to be a nice guy, it doesn’t mean I have to go out with every alpha who is a halfway decent person.” Louis reluctantly admits to himself that Harry  _ might _ be halfway decent as he did send that bag of mulch over with Liam and a note of apology. “And anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m going home this weekend to get Chad.”

“Oh, yeah!” Liam exclaims. “I hope he likes his enclosure!”

“I’m sure he will,” Louis answers. “I special ordered him nice big rock fountain he can lounge in, too. Really, I can’t even say how much I appreciate you helping me build that enclosure, Liam.”

“Yeah, well, I know how you can repay me!” There’s a bit of a glint in Liam’s eye. “I’m having a party next weekend. You should come! You all should.”

Louis scoffs. “I already helped you with Zayn, but yeah maybe.”

///

Louis anxiously checks the clock at work, willing the hours away. Chad has been a bit restless trying to settle into his new surroundings, and he really wants to go home and check on him. He hopes he won’t have to eventually bring him back to his mom’s house. For one thing, his mom isn’t particularly fond of Chad. He’s much better off with Louis, and Zayn and Niall don’t seem to mind him at all. 

He turns to check the clock yet again and notices a familiar set of broad shoulders and dark curls. He’s slightly surprised to see Harry as he hasn’t been loitering outside his house all week. He thought perhaps his interest had already waned, but now he’s just shown up at his work, which is highly inappropriate in Louis’ mind. He’s about to say something scathing when Harry turns and does a double take.

“Oh--Louis! Hi!” A lovely smile spreads across his handsome face. “I didn’t realize you worked here.

Harry seems genuinely surprised to see him, so Louis bites his tongue. “Yep. This is how Liam and I met last year, actually.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Harry says. “I guess I just never thought to ask him how you two became friends. I guess I thought you must have had a class together or something.”

“Nah. I’m a biology major. Wouldn’t be caught dead in Liam’s business classes.”

Harry laughs. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in either of your classes.”

“What are you studying then?”

“Art. Focusing on photography for now, but I also draw and paint.”

Louis raises his eyebrows. Well, well, well. This Harry is full of surprises. 

“Interesting choice for a--” Louis cuts himself off. “Interesting choice.”

“For an alpha?” Harry finishes, a touch of amusement in his voice. “You know we aren’t all majoring in business or whatever. Not exactly typical for an omega to be in the sciences either.”

“No, you’re right. I’m one of the few omegas in my classes. I guess neither of us took the traditional route.” Louis clears his throat. “So was there anything I can help you find?”

He can tell a line is coming by the absurd look on Harry’s face at this opening he’s just left him. “Yes, you can. I seem to have lost my heart. I think you must have found it.”

Louis sighs loudly.

Harry just grins. “I came to find a sweatshirt.”

Harry picks up a large pink sweatshirt emblazoned with the name of their university and brings it up to the cash register.

Louis eyes it and wonders who it’s for, and he blurts out the question before he can stop himself. “Is it for your sister or your girlfriend?”

Fuck, he could smack himself. That sounded so horribly obvious as if he was fishing to find out Harry’s relationship status even though he definitely was not.

Harry’s lips curl into a sideways smirk and one eyebrow raises to the ceiling. “The sweatshirt is for me. I wouldn’t have thought you’d have such narrow gender views on color, Louis. Tsk, tsk.”

Louis flushes and rings up the sweatshirt not daring to look back at Harry. He deserves this rebuke. He knows he must be visibly flustered, and he’s not even sure why except that he can smell Harry’s scent when he’s this close in an enclosed area. There’s something distinctly sharp to it. Mint and citrus, Cypress and amber. He has the bizarre thought that the scent matches the green of his eyes as he looks up into them and watches Harry’s pupils begin to dilate and black out the unique hues of his eyes. He can’t seem to look away.

“God, you’re pretty,” Harry says, his voice a deep, wooded rumble.

The door slides open and a few students wander in, chattering. The spell now broken by the interruption, Louis quickly runs Harry’s credit card and thrusts the receipt at him. 

Harry’s eyes have returned to normal, he notices. “Do you have a map?”

“What?” 

“Because I keep getting lost in your eyes.”

Louis rolls his eyes at Harry’s cackle and retreating figure. “See you this weekend, Louis.”

/// 

Saturday morning finds Louis looking in at Chad through the enclosure. He watches as Chad crawls out from the small cave he bought at the pet store to eat the crickets and egg that Louis has left for him. The lizard catches the crickets eagerly and then munches on the egg. When he’s done eating, Louis opens the enclosure gate slowly. He hasn’t taken Chad out since he brought him back last weekend, giving him time to acclimate to his new surroundings, but since he’s been eating well the last few days, he’s decided it might be okay to bring him out of the enclosure for a few minutes. 

He calmly and confidently picks Chad up out of the enclosure. “Hey, Chad. How do you like this thing? Liam did a good job, didn’t he?” 

He looks back at the Cypress mulch bedding and frowns. At his mom’s house, he’d had the mulch quite a bit deeper. He should really figure out a way to get another bag of this stuff. 

“Well, Chad. Maybe I’ll ask Liam to take me to buy you some more of this mulch you like to burrow in.”

“You should ask Harry.”

Louis lets out a shout and nearly drops Chad. “Fuck, Niall! You scared the shit out of me.”

Niall cackles. “I see that. I wasn’t tryin’ to sneak up on ya. You were busy talking to Chad. Anyway, you know Harry would take you to get more mulch. You can ask him tonight.”

Louis snorts.

“You  _ are _ coming, aren’t ya?” Niall asks, eyes narrowed.

Louis shrugs.

“Lou, you have to come!”

“Why?”

Niall’s cheeks pinken up a bit, which is quite curious. “Just--you should. Zayn’s going. I’m going. What are you gonna do instead? Hang out with your lizard all night?”

“Maybe. Why do you care?”

“I don’t really know everyone. What if I need you?”

Louis stands up with Chad still in his arms. “Okay, tell me what the fuck is going on. You’ve never been weird about going to a party in your entire life. You make friends everywhere you go. You’re on a nickname basis with the mailman here for fuck’s sake, and we’ve only lived here a few weeks.”

Niall presses his lips together. “It’s nothing.”

“Oh, it’s something all right.”

“FINE. I’m a little--nervous.”

“About what?” This is wild. He’s never seen Niall be nervous about anything before.

“It’s just--there’s this--guy, and--”

“THERE’S A GUY????”

“I knew I shouldn’t have told you.”

“WHO IS IT?”

Niall’s face has turned the color of a ripe tomato, and he barely mumbles a word. “Niall.”

“Uh, yes, that’s your name. What are you--OHHHHHHHHHHH! Isn’t that the name of that monster of an alpha next door? Bressie’s first name is Niall, right? OH MY GOD.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have told ya.” Niall flings himself across the couch. “I can’t help myself.”

Louis carefully puts Chad back into his enclosure before diving on top of Niall who lets out an oof as Louis lands on top of him. “Christ, Lou.”

Niall scooches over to allow room for them both on the couch. “Will you please come to the party, Lou?”

Louis sighs. “Fine. But if you start making out with Bressie, I’m leaving.”

///

Louis knows what alpha parties look like, but he’d held onto a small hope that Liam would somehow not throw a typical alpha party. Red solo cups litter every table. There are multiple kegs in the kitchen. The place reeks of competing alpha scents. Louis sighs, resigned to stay at least until Niall makes his move on Bressie. 

“Won’t it be weird?” He suddenly asks Niall.

“What will?”

“Dating someone who has the same name as you? Like won’t that be fucking weird to like be messing around and say your own name?”

“Shut up, Lou,” Niall says as Zayn huffs out a laugh.

“Ohhh, Niall. Yes, yes right there, NIALLLLL!” Louis says in an exaggerated Irish accent. “Fucking weird, dude.”

“Well, it wasn’t weird until ya started all this,” Niall retorts.

“I didn’t start shit. You’re the one who wants to bang a dude with the same name as you.”

Unfortunately, as the words leave Louis’ mouth, he sees Liam suddenly appear over Niall’s shoulder with Niall Breslin right behind him.

“Look I could always just call him Bressie when I was bangin’ him--”

Niall must see the look of horror on Louis’ face and realize something is very wrong because he whips around to see Liam frozen behind him with his mouth hanging open and a very smug Bressie standing next to him.

Niall tries to make a run for it. 

They watch as Niall makes it to the kitchen before Bressie catches up to him. 

Zayn claps him on the back. “Well, that went well.”

“Well, how the fuck was I supposed to know that they were gonna walk right up behind him at that exact moment?”

Liam hands them both a red Solo cup full of beer and then smiles so widely, his eyes nearly close. “It’s okay. Niall has a crush on Niall anyway.”

“Uh, yeah. We know,” Louis says. “That’s why I just said all that stuff.”

“No, no,” Liam responds. “I meant  _ my _ NIall has a crush on  _ your _ Niall.”

“Ohhhhh,” Louis says. “Sick. So I did a good deed then.”

“Got lucky there, Lou,” Zayn says.

“Oh, yeah. Real lucky. Now you’re gonna go make out with Liam, and Niall’s probably off banging Niall. And now I’m alone at an alpha party.”

“I’d offer you a cupcake, but you’re sweet enough already.” The deep voice sends shivers across his skin, but the words dampen any lingering desire. 

In the time it takes Louis to whirl around and see Harry with actual cupcakes in his absurdly large hands, his friends have deserted him. When he turns back around, he sees he’s alone. He sighs in resignation. Alone at an alpha party. Just as he suspected this night would go. He knew he should have stayed home with Chad. 

“I should have stayed home with Chad.”

“Who the fuck is Chad?” Harry’s voice has dropped an octave and is really more of a growl than anything else. 

Louis rolls his eyes. Honestly, his eyes are going to permanently roll back into his head if he hangs around Harry too much. 

“Chad is my lizard.”

“You named your lizard Chad?”

“Yes. Well, technically his name is Chad Michael Murray,” Louis says as he takes one of the cupcakes from Harry’s hand.

Harry stares at him in disbelief, all hint of his alpha outburst evaporates into thin air. “You named your lizard after Chad Michael Murray?”

Louis shrugs one shoulder, his mouth too full of cupcake to respond. A burst of amaretto hits his tongue, and Louis moans at how delicious this cupcake tastes. “Fuck. This might be the best cupcake I’ve ever eaten.”

Harry seems momentarily distracted by watching Louis eat the cupcake. “I’m glad you like them. There’s amaretto liqueur in the cupcake itself, and then I also used almond extract in the buttercream frosting.”

Louis almost chokes in amazement. “You made these?”

Harry smiles so brightly that his dimples appear, reminding Louis of how dangerous they are. “Yes, I did. Good to know you’re so partial to sweets. Make sense, I guess.”

Louis narrows his eyes and ask a question he feels sure he’ll soon regret asking. “How so?”

Harry leans in and takes a breath. “You smell like cotton candy. Makes my head spin.”

“Stop trying to scent me, you knothead,” Louis says as he pushes Harry back from him. 

Harry just looks as delighted as ever. “Now, I can tell my friends I’ve been touched by an angel.”

Louis closes his eyes and shakes his head. Who the hell is this alpha, anyway? He can genuinely say he’s not met anyone quite like Harry. He takes photographs of birds and bakes the most delicious cupcakes and does him favors, and then uses the absolute worst pick up lines Louis has ever heard and growls at people who get too near and tries to lean in to smell him too closely. And let’s be honest, it’s not like Louis is completely immune to those dimples.

He sighs and walks over to an unoccupied couch and sinks into it. He’s not very surprised that Harry has followed him and sits next to him with a stupid grin on his stupidly handsome face that makes Louis think really stupid thoughts like what it might be like to kiss Harry’s stupid pink lips and be enveloped in Harry’s stupidly attractive scent. 

“I wasn’t trying to scent you, I swear. You just smell so fucking good that sometimes I can’t help but try to get a little closer. I’ll be good now.” Harry makes a crossing movement over his heart. Who even does that? “So how is your lizard doing anyway? Enjoying his mulch?”

Well, the topic of Chad does seem like a fairly safe one as far as Harry is concerned. “Yeah, he’s actually doing pretty well. I was concerned about how he would do in a new environment, and it did take him a few days to start eating again. But now he seems okay, and I actually let him out of the enclosure today for a few minutes.”

“You let him out of his cage?” Harry asks, his eyes wide. Louis can smell a different hint of a scent from Harry. “I mean, you’re really careful right? Like he’s not going to escape or anything?”

“Harry?”

“Yes?”

“Are you by chance scared of giant lizards?”

“No.”

“So you wouldn’t mind my bringing Chad by for a visit?” Louis asks with fake innocence. 

Harry looks panicked, but says, “Sure, bring him by.”

Louis grins. “Your voice cracked.”

“Did not.”

“Did, too.”

“Fine! I’m not sure how comfortable I am with monitor lizards. I googled them, and they’re huge! I can’t believe you can actually keep them as pets!”

Louis laughs out loud. “Yes, they can grow quite large, but Chad is an Ackie monitor. At most, he’ll grow to be about twenty-eight inches.” 

Louis can see Harry doing the measurement estimates in his head before he slumps back against the couch. “Oh thank god.”

“Worried, were you? That Chad was gonna crawl out onto your patio one day?”

“Maybe a little.” Harry gives him a weak smile. “I’m glad he’s doing well though.”

“Yeah, me too. I need to get back to the pet store though,” Louis says before he can stop himself. He knows what will come from saying that.

“I can take you back there whenever you want!” Harry says, sitting bolt upright again.

“That’s okay. I’ll have Liam take me next week. I’d just ride my bike again, but I need to pick up another bag of the Cypress mulch. And we saw how well that worked last time.”

Harry looks disappointed, but at least he doesn’t press the matter. “So what made you name him after Chad Michael Murray? Or is that a stupid question with an obvious answer?”

Louis laughs. “Well, the answer is obvious, yes. Had a bit of a crush on Chad Michael Murray a few years ago when I first got him.”

“You know, Chad Michael Murray is an alpha.” Harry waggles his eyebrows.

“Yeah, well, you can’t have everything, can you?”

Harry frowns. “So are you against all alphas or just me?”

Louis looks into Harry’s clear green gaze and tries to see what’s really there. He knows there’s more to Harry than what’s on the surface. That much has become clear to him, but does it really change his mind about guys like Harry? That he’s not so sure about.

“Well, I don’t know that I would date an alpha again, but no, I’m not  _ against _ all alphas. I quite like Liam after all.”

Harry shoots daggers across the room at Liam, even though Liam is currently grinding on the dance floor with Zayn. 

“Harry, do you know what the first thing you said to me was?”

Harry lips pull down in the corners as he makes a face. “Um, no. I don’t know.”

“You said I looked like someone you knew and then said, oh yeah my next boyfriend.”

The look on Harry’s face turns into a sheepish grin. “Hey, that one’s not so bad. Pure intentions, right there. Listen. I know a lot worse lines than that one.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do.”

“I mean, at least I didn’t say, you must be from Tennessee because you’re the only ten I see.”

“Oh my god.”

“Or, if you were a Transformer, you’d be Optimus Fine.”

Unfortunately, Louis had just taken a sip of beer that he promptly spits out. “Have you actually said those before?”

Harry barks out a loud laugh that makes heads turn in his direction. “No, I swear, I haven’t!”

Louis looks up from their conversation long enough to spot Niall in a corner talking to Bressie. Apparently, Harry’s laugh has distracted Niall enough that he’s looking right back, eying the two of them and how cozy they must appear on the couch. Shit. 

Louis puts his cup on the side table and stands up. “Well, I think I’m gonna head back.”

“What? Why?” Harry asks, a slight note of desperation in his voice. “Please don’t go. I swear I won’t take another sniff of you the rest of the night.”

Louis huffs out a small laugh as he moves to begin walking towards the door. “I was only staying to make sure Niall had a wingman, but it turns out I did my job almost immediately. Bye, Harry.”

Harry tries to get up and in the process manages to trip Louis with his enormous boots. Harry catches him before he hits the ground and plops back onto the couch, hauling Louis onto his lap. “Looks like you’re falling for me, Louis.”

Harry’s smell washes over him, a wave of yearning that he refuses to give in to. Louis crawls off of him immediately. “I didn’t fall for you. You fucking tripped me!”

He doesn’t know why he smiles back at the goofy smile on Harry’s face and the dumb line he just said, but he does. He needs to get out of here. It must be Harry’s scent that is overpowering his good reason. 


	2. I'm Not Drunk, Just Intoxicated By Your Presence

Louis wakes up well before anyone else in the house. He’s sure they’ll both be hungover as fuck after last night. He’s fairly certain he heard one or both of them stumble in around three o’clock. Someone seemed to have knocked into something on their way to bed because he’d heard a loud thump, probably Niall. 

He takes a quick shower and throws on some grey sweatpants and a thin t-shirt. The clothes are well-worn, and he savors the way they rub softly against his body. It soothes him a bit. He feels a little discomfited after last night. For the first time in a very, very long time he finds himself rummaging through his drawers looking for soothers. Fuck, he doesn’t even use soothers during his heats anymore. He tries not to think about it as he frantically searches for the small scent filled bottles. He finds a few finally and uncaps the first one he can put his hands on. He takes a breath of it expecting to feel an instant relief that doesn’t come. It has a strong sandalwood scent that is just--not right somehow. He uncaps another that helps only slightly more than the first one--a lemongrass scent that just isn’t quite enough of whatever it is that he needs. 

It’s frustrating as hell, and he doesn’t even know why. Maybe he just needs a distraction. He tries not to let his mind spiral and heads downstairs to check on Chad.

He checks on his lizard and makes sure he’s got a full water bowl, and then he makes himself some tea while he watches Cubs highlights on his phone. He still has a few hours until the game starts. It would actually be a good time to go buy Chad more bedding at the pet store, but he doesn’t really want to try and haul it onto the bus and drag it back from the bus stop. 

He’d go and bug Liam to take him there, but he’s probably still asleep. He sighs and takes out his laptop. Maybe he should do some reading for his Monday classes. He doesn’t get further than a few paragraphs before he’s interrupted by a knock at the door. He wonders if it’s Liam coming for Zayn. He hurries to answer it on the off chance he can convince Liam to take him to the pet store.

He swings the door wide to reveal Harry with a very sheepish look on his face that quickly turns to something else. Whatever words Harry was about to say seem to have left him as he stands there with his mouth half hanging open, carrying a large bag of Cypress mulch bedding. 

“Did you bring Chad more mulch?” He obviously has, but Louis says it anyway. Something tugs at his heart that he quickly tries to squash. He tries to remember that Harry is an overbearing alpha, and actually this just proves he’s trying to take care of Louis via Chad, trying to be Louis’ alpha again. Right. He needs to remember this.

Harry still hasn’t moved or said a word, and Louis’ eyes dart back to his face. He sees the flush of color in his cheeks and the wide eyes and open mouth. And now he can smell the sharp scent of Harry’s pheromones threatening to overwhelm him again. He knows this is the scent he’d been searching for earlier, citrus and mint and something indefinable. He backs up a step even though the desire to step in closer nearly overtakes him, and it seems to snap Harry out of whatever stupor he was in. 

“You--those--I brought you--mulch,” Harry manages to spit out, holding out the large bag towards Louis.

“I see that,” Louis answers, still watching Harry carefully. “Mind bringing it in?”

“Yes--no--I mean--I’ll bring it in.” Harry stumbles over the threshold as badly as he’s been stumbling over his words. 

Louis eyes him warily as he turns and begins to lead Harry towards Chad’s enclosure. Harry makes an odd gasping noise that makes him turn back around. “You okay?”

“Mmhmm,” Harry murmurs. “Um--swallowed wrong or something.”

“Can you just set it next to the enclosure then?” Louis asks, and this time when he turns he can tell Harry has been staring at his ass. He can’t quite muster up the energy to be outraged.

Harry dutifully sets the bag next to the enclosure and then just stands there, rocking back on his heels. 

“Ehm--so, thanks, Harry. For the mulch and everything. It was actually pretty nice of you.”

Harry’s entire face lights up like a moonlit night. His eyes stare intently at him in shades of green and amber, and his mouth upturns into such a wide smile that his dimples carve deeply into his face. It’s nearly as intoxicating as his scent. 

“You’re welcome, Louis. It was really no trouble at all.”

“Well, it was  _ some _ trouble. You got up early on a Sunday morning to buy Chad mulch to burrow in,” he adds and gives Harry one of his own smiles. 

Harry isn’t looking at his face to even see the genuinely thankful smile of appreciation that Louis has tried to give him. No, Harry’s too busy staring at his sweatpants. Louis looks down at them and frowns. They are a bit worn out, but nothing too terrible in wearing them around the house on a Sunday.

“Is there something wrong with my pants?”

“Huh?”

“You’re staring at them. Is there some kind of stain I’m not seeing or--”

Harry chews his bottom lip. “Um--no. They’re--fine. Just--”

“Oh god, do you have some ridiculous lines dreamed up about sweatpants or something?”

Harry barks out a loud laugh. “Well, I did think of a few that I’ll spare you from hearing. Let’s just leave it at the fact that I’ve never seen anyone look this good in anything ever before in my life.”

Harry looks so sincere as he says this that it throws Louis for a moment. “If my sweatpants look so good to you, maybe you need to get out more.”

“Oh, I get out plenty. No one else looks like that in old sweatpants.”

Louis just stares at him for a moment. “Okay, let’s hear them.”

“Hear what?”

“The lines. I know you’re dying to say them.”

“Oh. No, really, I don’t think you’re going to want to--”

“Harry. This is your one and only chance to say them without me kicking you in the shins.”

“You’ve never kicked me in the shins,” Harry says, solemnly. “I’d remember if you willingly touched me.”

“I was in my mind.”

“Touching me?” Harry asks hopefully.

“Kicking you.”

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Louis glares at him. “I’m already sorry I asked.”

“Are you a baker?”

“Uh, no, not--”

“Because you’ve got some nice buns.”

“Oh my god.”

“Hey, you promised you wouldn’t get mad.”

“I’m fairly certain I only promised not to kick you.”

Harry clears his throat, clearly ready to continue with more. “I think you sat in a pile of sugar.”

“Oh god. Why?” Louis winces in preparation for the punchline.

“Because you have a really sweet ass.”

Louis shakes his head. “Please tell me that’s the last one.”

“Are those space pants?”

Louis doesn’t even get to respond before Harry is shouting out. “Because your ass is out of this world!”

“Do I even want to know?” Niall asks, bleary-eyed in the archway between the living room and dining room.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Cheers,” Niall says as he walks heavy-footed into the kitchen. 

///

A few hours later Louis waits for Chad to finish capturing and eating his crickets before letting him out of the enclosure. He carefully handles him into a comfortable position in his arms and walks over to the windows, letting in a bright afternoon light. He lets the sun warm the lizard before deciding to take him out back on the patio where he can get some direct sunlight. 

As he walks outside, he spots Harry in the backyard with his camera out and pointed towards the trees. He finds Chad a sunny spot to bask in before turning his attention back to Harry who doesn’t seem to have noticed Louis or Chad. He seems wholly focused on capturing something in the trees. 

Louis watches, a bit more curious about him than is probably healthy. His eyes follow the stride of Harry’s lean legs as he walks back into the house. He comes back out the door almost immediately with what looks like his photography equipment strapped to his back and a small cooler in his hand. Harry finally spots them sunbathing and waves.

“Hello, Louis--and Chad. I didn’t know you let Chad go outside.”

Louis’ lips twitch in amusement at the somewhat nervous look on Harry’s face. “Don’t get too worried. I keep a close eye on him when we’re out here.”

“Not worried,” Harry claims. “Well, I guess I better get going.”

“Where you headed to?” Louis can’t help but ask.

Harry hesitates for a moment and then says, “I’m heading out on a trail in the nature reserve. A yellow cardinal was supposedly spotted out there. So I thought I’d go take a look for myself. You wouldn’t---er, do you--um, see you around, Louis.”

“Yeah,” Louis replies. “See you around.”

He watches Harry climb into his car with a slight pang. It’s not like he wanted Harry to ask him to come. But still, it might have been nice to go on a walk through the woods. 

///

“Lou, you in for tonight?” Niall asks from the couch as Louis walks in, finally home from his longest day of classes. 

“What’s tonight?”

“Eh, thought we could all go get a pint. Shoot some darts. Whatevs.”

“Sure. Let me take a shower first.”

An hour later, he, Zayn, and Niall head out to the nearest bar with a happy hour and a dart board. As soon as they walk in and order drinks at the bar, an uneasy feeling sweeps over Louis. He glances at Zayn who returns the look. It’s a little alpha heavy in the bar tonight. Louis doesn’t exactly have trouble getting noticed by alphas in the first place. But add Zayn standing next to him, and every alpha in the place is staring at them. They’re all probably trying to assess how Niall fits into their situation, wondering which one if either is with Niall. Louis knows from experience that it will be worse once they realize Niall’s a beta. 

Oblivious to the undertones going on around him, Niall cheerfully leads them to a booth near the currently occupied dart board. Louis is thankful for the physical barrier that the booth allows them right up until Niall ruins it. 

“Hey, we’ve got next game, blokes, if that’s alright,” Niall calls out to the three alphas standing near the dart board. 

The one with the dart pauses mid release to leer in their direction. “Is that right? I’d be willing to give up my turn for a pretty little omega.”

Louis really hates being called little, but Niall seems to finally realize the situation. 

“Psssh,” Niall makes a rude noise and points to Zayn. “He’s taken.”

“By you?” One of the other alphas asks Niall.

“Nah, by him.” Louis looks up to see Niall pointing at Liam who has just walked up to the table with Harry and Bressie close behind. Liam’s eyebrows furrow together as he glances at the alphas surrounding the dart board before sliding into the booth next to Zayn and putting his arm around his shoulders.

The three of them make a fairly imposing group, but the alpha with the dart still makes one last effort and nods at Louis. “How about the other one?”

Before Louis can tell him to fuck off and that he doesn’t enjoy being treated like a piece of meat, Harry growls low in his throat. The sound is so menacing that it takes a moment for Louis to realize where the sound came from. 

The alpha raises his arms in mock surrender. “No harm, man. Had to ask. Not everyday you see an omega as pretty as him. Or an ass like that.”

Bressie steps in front of Harry as though he knows Harry’s response to the situation might be physical violence. Bressie is easily the largest alpha in the place.

“I suggest getting yourselves more drinks,” Bressie says in a tone that invites no questions. “And don’t bother coming back.”

Louis breathes a little easier knowing they’re unlikely to return, but he’s also a little annoyed by Harry’s obviously possessive behavior. 

“Did you invite them?” He hisses into Niall’s ear.

“Nah. But I mighta’ mentioned it to Bressie. He must have taken it to mean to come by.” Niall smiles brightly, and Louis doesn’t have it in him to even complain. “Now let’s play some darts!”

Niall pushes Louis out of the booth and practically onto Harry’s feet. Louis stumbles a bit, directly into Harry’s chest. His hands reach out instinctively to balance himself, and his fingers clutch at the fabric of Harry’s t-shirt. Harry’s scent hits him like a ton of bricks. It’s nearly enough to knock him back into the booth. He looks into Harry’s dilated eyes and watches Harry’s tongue dart out across his bottom lip. He feels dizzy enough that he doesn’t let go of his shirt for another long moment before he hears Niall shout out something about teams, and the biological spell being woven between he and Harry severs abruptly. 

He steps away from Harry and walks on shaky legs towards the dart board where everyone else has gathered. He doesn’t look back until he reaches Niall’s side. When he does, it’s to the sight of Harry still standing stock still in front of the booth just staring at it. 

Louis’ heart thumps loudly, a continuation of the response his body has to his hands encountering Harry’s chest. He wonders if Harry’s experiencing something similar over there with his hands clenched in fists to his sides. 

“What the fuck are you doing, Harry?” Niall calls out, oblivious as ever. Louis looks back at the group just in time to see Liam and Bressie exchange knowing looks. He’s not sure what to think about that either, so he takes a long sip of Niall’s beer and snatches the dart from Niall’s hand. A loud buzzing in his ears isn’t enough to distract him from darts though. It’s all muscle memory at this point. His arm pulls back, and he gracefully lets the dart soar through the air and directly into the bullseye. 

Niall cackles delightedly. 

“I think we’ve been had,” Bressie says, eyes bright as he smiles at Niall. 

“I’ll take these omegas on my team over your alphas any day,” Niall declares as Liam’s dart barely connects with the board. 

Zayn calmly steps in front of the board and nonchalantly aims and watches the dart sail into the bullseye. 

“I think you’re taking advantage of us.” Harry’s breath fans across the curve of his neck, and the low tone of his voice shudders through him. He’s so affected by Harry’s presence behind him that he’s afraid he’ll get wet right here. Fuck. This is getting out of hand. He reminds himself it’s only physical. That’s all this attraction is.

“Your turn,” he says with as much composure as he can. 

Harry struts up to take the dart and doesn’t even hit the board. Niall cackles even louder. “Wish I’d bet Bressie even more money now!” 

Bressie doesn’t look at all put out that he’s going to owe Niall anything. He looks rather pleased actually. 

Harry just shrugs. 

“You drunk already?” Louis can’t help but heckle. 

“Not drunk,” Harry says with a sly smile. “Just intoxicated by your presence.”

///

As Louis lays in bed that night, he realizes just how hazardous Harry Styles is to his mental health. He stares at the ceiling and doesn’t just think about his physical attraction to Harry. No, somehow over the course of the evening he told Harry about his large family and all his siblings. Harry quoted lines of poetry and told him about his first job working at a bakery. Louis told him about playing the drums in the marching band in high school, and Harry said they should start a band because he still plays the guitar. Harry says he never found the yellow cardinal, and Louis finds himself saying he’d like to help him look for it. 

Yes, Harry Styles is indeed dangerous.

///

Something about that night of playing darts breaks apart the metaphorical wall between their houses. It isn’t uncommon in the weeks that follow to find Bressie drinking milk out of the carton in Louis’ kitchen or Zayn using Liam’s large kitchen table for the blueprints of his architecture project. 

Zayn and Liam seem to be accelerating their relationship at an alarming pace. Louis is a bit concerned he’ll come home from class one day and find out they’re mates now, but Niall and Bressie seem to be keeping things more casual. Although Louis is fairly certain both of them have stopped seeing other people without informing the other that they’ve done so. 

As for Harry, he seems to be making a real effort to befriend them all, but in particular, Louis. The terrible pick up lines have stopped for the most part and have been replaced with talk about Chad and various bird species. They’ve gone on a few hikes now looking for that yellow cardinal. Sometimes, he’ll play Louis a song on the guitar and beg him to bring his drum kit back from his mom’s house. Louis is careful to keep his physical distance though. He assumes that’s why he had such a strong response to Harry before, and Harry also seems to keep a respectful physical distance as well. 

It works. Louis actually feels--comfortable with Harry now. As he walks home from class three weeks after their darts night, he’s already thinking about what he and Harry might like to watch on Netflix tonight. He needs to do some reading, but then he should be free to hang out. 

He walks in through the back door to an unfamiliar sound. It sounds as though Zayn and Liam are--arguing in the living room. That can’t be right.

“He’s clearly not into him, Li. I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“He’s my best friend,” Liam says in an exasperated tone.

“Well, Louis is  _ my _ best friend. Why can’t I set him up with a nice guy?”

“Uh--hello?” Louis calls out. 

There’s the sound of a scuffle of some sort, and Zayn and Liam both appear in the doorway nearly pushing past each other to get into the kitchen. 

“Hey, Lou.”

“Hi?” He says suspiciously. They were clearly arguing about him for some reason.

“So do you remember the guy I did that project with--” Zayn begins.

“YOU AND HARRY SHOULD GO ON ANOTHER HIKE--” Liam says, talking over him.

“Uh--”

“Just stop,” Zayn glares at Liam.

“Louis doesn’t want to go on a date with someone else!” Liam insists.

“What the fuck are you guys talking about?”

Liam crosses his arms across his chest, clearly fuming as he lets Zayn speak. “Do you remember that guy Miles that I did my last project with?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Louis says. He racks his mind for a memory of Miles. Good looking, a beta, curly hair, seemed nice enough. 

“Well, he asked about you and I gave him your phone number,” Zayn says.

“Oh. Huh, well--”

“SEE?!” Liam shouts. “He doesn’t like him!”

“He doesn’t even know him!” Zayn insists. “He’s not into Harry! Give it up!” 

“What does Harry have to do with this?” He asks.

Zayn gives him a withering look. “I know you spend all your free time with Harry, but clearly you’re not dating alphas anymore and you’re sticking to that. So I’m setting you up with a nice beta.”

Niall walks into the kitchen. “A nice beta? I’m a nice beta!”

“Yes, you are, Ni,” Zayn says with a smile. “See? We should all be dating nice betas like Niall.”

“Hey!” Liam says, his puppy dog eyes opening widely. 

Zayn’s look of displeasure transforms into something softer, and a smile twitches at his lips. Zayn links his fingers through Liam’s, and Louis rolls his eyes at their sappy faces as they turn and walk out of the room together.

“What was that about?” Niall asks as he takes a bite of cold pizza. 

“Apparently, Zayn is setting me up on a date with his friend Miles, and Liam thinks it’s a bad idea. At least, that’s what I got from whatever it was that just happened.”

“Why’s he think it’s a bad idea?”

Louis shrugs and tries not to show anything on his face.

Niall chews another bite thoughtfully. “Oh, does he mean because of Harry?”

“I don’t know why everyone thinks this has anything to do with Harry.”

Pizza shoots out of Niall’s mouth and flies to the floor as he begins laughing. “You must be joking, mate. Harry’s gonna flip.”

“Shut up. No, he won’t. We’re--sort of friends now. He’ll--”

“Flip the fuck out. But good luck.” Niall pats him hard on the back as he walks back out of the kitchen. 

///

Louis has just taken Chad out of his enclosure when the front door bursts open. Harry stands just inside the doorway whipping his head around looking for something. When he spies Louis, he strides across the room, only stopping when he’s close and realizes Louis is holding Chad.

Harry’s chest heaves with each breath, and Louis is quite taken aback by the way he looked prowling towards him as though he were about to throw Louis over his shoulder. He’s never seen Harry look like this before, and it’s unnerving. 

“I hear you have a date,” Harry bites out. 

“What?” Louis’ brain’s gone fuzzy at the way Harry eyes him and the heavy scent of him in the air. He’s grown used to Harry’s sharp, crisp scent. It’s quite lovely and fresh, and he’s been associating it with comfort and happiness. This is something else entirely. It makes his head spin. He’s enticed enough to step closer. Beneath the initial heavy notes of this new scent, he finds the citrus and mint he’s grown fond of and smiles. 

“Thought we were getting along, Louis,” Harry growls.

None of what Harry’s saying is making any kind of sense to Louis. All he can think about is crawling further into Harry’s space and breathing him in. He frowns in concentration, trying to focus. 

“We are getting along?” He says, phrasing it as a question. He’s not so sure anymore because although his senses are being overwhelmed by Harry, a small part of his brain realizes something isn’t right. Harry is angry with him, which just seems very, very wrong.

“You’re going on a date with Miles.” Nothing has ever sounded more like an accusation. 

“Oh.” It’s finally starting to come together in Louis’ mind. He takes a step back to try and breathe in air that doesn’t reek of Harry. He takes a few breaths. “What does us getting along have to do with Miles?”

“Are you fucking with me, Louis?” Harry asks, surprise and horror written on his face. 

“Uh--no, but I--”

“You’re not going,” Harry states flatly. His hands are balled into fists, and his lips form a tight line. 

“What do you mean, I’m not going?” Louis says hotly. Now that he isn’t so fucked up by Harry’s scent, he can think more clearly.  “You don’t have the right to tell me what to do.”

“Fuck!” Harry turns on his heel and marches back towards the door, slamming it shut behind him so hard that a picture frames falls off the wall with a crash that makes Louis jump. 

“Well, I see he took the news well,” Niall calls out from the kitchen.

“Fuck off, Niall.” Louis can’t deal with Niall right now. 

“Well, try and put yourself in his shoes, Lou.”

“What? Go around letting myself into other people’s houses unannounced and then storm around, roaring like some beast of an alpha?” Louis scoffs as he places Chad back into his enclosure. He’s better off in there when Louis is this keyed up. He tries not to let on to Niall how off kilter he feels right now and just stares in at Chad who is now burrowing beneath the mulch. If he was Chad, he’d probably hide, too.

“No, I mean, how would you feel if Harry was going on a date with someone else?”

“Psshhh, I’d be fine with it.” But the question hangs in his mind as he takes a shower and changes into something nice for his date with Miles. More questions begin to take hold in his mind. He’s been telling himself that he and Harry are building a friendship, but was it always more than that? Because if he’s being honest with himself, he doesn’t like the way it feels to imagine Harry on a date with someone else. 

The questions stay there in the back of his mind when Miles smiles at him, and he notices that Miles doesn’t have dimples.

They’re there when he looks into Miles’ eyes and sees they aren’t quite green enough. 

They’re there when Miles laughs, and it sounds nothing like a loud, ridiculous bark.

They’re there when Miles tells succinct stories about himself that don’t meander aimlessly through other topics until neither of them know what they were talking about in the first place. 

They’re there when Louis realizes that Miles seems a little obvious in comparison to Harry who took weeks to unravel, who he is still unraveling apparently given his outburst this afternoon. 

They’re there when he lies awake that night staring at the ceiling and wondering where Harry is and what he’s doing at this moment.

/// 

When he doesn’t see Harry at all the next day, he just tries to give him a bit of space. Surely, he just needs a day or two to cool off and come talk it out with him. Hopefully, he’ll apologize for acting like an alpha jerk, too. 

But Monday morning arrives, and Harry doesn’t appear at the front door with coffee to walk him to class. Tuesday he awaits Harry’s arrival in the bookstore to bring tea or a cookie for his break, but he doesn’t show up. On Wednesday when Harry doesn’t show up to help him with his weekly cleaning of Chad’s enclosure, he starts feeling a little angry. He doesn’t give a shit about Harry bringing him things or helping him with stuff, but he does care that Harry’s ghosting him over a guy. 

Louis frowns and sits cross legged in front of Chad’s enclosure. He’s not even interested in seeing Miles again, and Harry’s being such an ass about this. When he doesn’t see Harry on Thursday or all day Friday, he finds his anger has turned a bit resentful and sad. Is this really the end of their friendship then? Is Harry really just going to ignore him now? 

On Friday night Liam arrives to pick up Zayn for a dinner and movie date, and Louis immediately pounces. 

“So what’s Harry doing tonight?”

“Ummm--” Liam just looks at him blankly. “I--don’t--know.”

He obviously knows. “You obviously know,” Louis accuses.

“Er--”

“No, never mind. It’s fine. I don’t really care anyway,” Louis sniffs.

Zayn rolls his eyes as he walks in. “Sure, you don’t. Why don’t you just text him instead of moping around?”

“I’m not moping!” Louis calls after them as they walk out the door. “You tell Harry I’m not moping, Liam!”

Niall stomps down the stairs. “I’ll tell him if ya want. Heading over there now.”

“What? You are?” Louis asks. “Wait! Don’t tell him that. It makes me sound like I  _ was _ moping. When I clearly am not moping.”

“Sure, mate. You staying in?”

“Oh. Um, yeah, I guess. I mean, I guess you guys are all--busy. I just usually watch Netflix with--”

“Harry. I know. You gonna start the moping again then?”

“Shut up. This is all his fault, you know. I thought we were friends, but clearly he doesn’t want to be friends if he can’t have more.”

Niall looks at him thoughtfully as he opens the door. “Maybe he’s got a good reason. And are you sure there’s never gonna be anything more between you two then?”

He sinks into the couch as Niall shuts the door behind him and turns on Netflix with a sigh.

/// 

Louis sleeps in a little the next morning. He drags himself into the kitchen around noon and makes some coffee. Niall and Zayn wander in shortly after, clearly drawn by the smell of coffee. Bressie wanders in after Niall, which instantly perks up Louis’ mood. He opens his mouth to commence the teasing, but there’s a polite knock at the door. 

Everyone looks at each other knowingly and then looks at Louis. No one moves towards the door. “Ooookay. I guess I’ll go answer the door.”

Based on the response of his dumb friends, he knows who is going to on the other side of the door. 

Harry is indeed on his doorstep, but this Harry isn’t anything like the Harry he knows. No, this Harry is looking down at his own boots and doesn’t even look up to see who has answered the door. 

“Hey,” Harry says quietly. Louis assumes he must know who he’s speaking to even though he never looks up. “I just wanted to come over and apologize.”

“Oh. Um--do you want to come inside or--”

Harry shrugs, and Louis opens the door more widely to let him through. Harry shuffles in instead of taking long confident strides, and it’s all a bit weird actually to see him like this. Harry doesn’t walk past the foyer and sit down, just stands there awkwardly. 

“I just want you to know that I’m really sorry about how I acted before--about your--date. I hope this isn’t too much information, but we  _ are _ friends. So I want you to know that I wasn’t completely myself the last time I came over here.”

Harry looks up at him finally, and he must see in Louis’ face that he still isn’t sure what he’s talking about. 

“I was about to start my rut. That’s no excuse really for how I acted though. I stayed away from you after that until it started, and I waited an extra day to come apologize because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. I get a little--intense.”

A wave of relief washes over him that there was a reasonable explanation for why Harry’s stayed away. He’s so glad things can return to normal now. “Harry? Uh, that was actually pretty thoughtful of you to not want to make me uncomfortable. And I accept your apology about the whole date thing. Not that it matters, but it didn’t exactly go that--”

“Oh good, is everything cleared up now?” Bressie interrupts as he and Zayn and Niall wander in from the kitchen. “Because during his next rut, I’m just gonna stay over here. Don’t think I can stand to hear Harry moaning your name day and night again. I could hardly sleep he was so damn loud!”

Louis swings his gaze to Harry and sees the high color in his cheeks before he turns away and walks quickly back out the door. Fucking Bressie. He shoots Bressie a death glare before quickly following in Harry’s wake. 

Harry stops at the steps to his own front porch when he realizes Louis is right behind him. He doesn’t turn around, but he says, “Sorry about Bressie. Didn’t mean to make things even more weird between us.”

“No, don’t be sorry. I wish he hadn’t embarrassed you like that. It wasn’t very nice even if he was just teasing you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Louis.” Harry resumes walking up the steps and through his front door, closing it behind him. 

Louis just stares at the door for a long moment, unsure what to do to fix this. It’s obvious that things aren’t going to just magically go back to the way they were before, and to be honest the thought of Harry in rut and calling for him makes his knees weak.


	3. Your Shirt Is Made Of Boyfriend Material

Louis spends the rest of his Saturday thinking about how to talk to Harry. It’s clear they need to talk. He doesn’t want to let things fester like they have been, but he still hasn’t decided what to say by Sunday afternoon. Although he does admit to himself that it’s due in part to the fact that he’s not entirely sure what he wants from Harry anymore. Hell, he’s not even sure what Harry wants from  _ him _ anymore. Maybe everything that happened was purely related to Harry’s rut. That thought sits heavy in his gut as he opens Chad’s enclosure to feed him. 

He’s preoccupied with his own thoughts when he takes Chad outside for some fresh air. One minute Chad is lounging in the sun on the deck, and the next he’s gone. Louis jumps up from the lounge chair in horror and turns back and forth hoping to see his long tan form. 

He tries not to panic, but he’s definitely panicking. He searches the deck carefully and thoroughly and then finally resigns himself to the fact that Chad is somewhere in the yard. He carefully steps down off the deck and starts combing the grass and bushes nearest to the deck. It’s so stupid, but he starts calling out Chad’s name as though he were a dog and going to come out from wherever he’s gone because Louis called his name. He decides he’s shouting the wrong name.

“Niall? Zayn?” He yells out. Neither of them appear, but Harry walks out his back door and freezes when he sees Louis.

“Thought I heard something.” Louis isn’t sure how he knows something is wrong, but Harry does. “Lou? What’s wrong?”

“Chad. I can’t find him,” he answers frantically. “We were on the deck, and then I took my eyes off him for a few seconds. Somehow he wandered off.”

Harry’s eyes widen in horror so comically that Louis would laugh if he wasn’t so upset. “Your lizard--is on the loose?”

“Yes! Would you mind going in the house and getting Niall or Zayn to come help me look for him?”

“Or--uh--I could help?”

“Would you? I mean, I know you seem a little scared of Chad, but--”

“I’m not scared of Chad,” Harry lies as he carefully lifts a branch of the bush to peer inside and then shudders.

“You are,” Louis declares. He can feel his lips curl up in a small smile. Some of the panic is subsiding just having someone else help him search. Although it might have something to do with Harry himself who has been a source of needed comfort for a while now. This is something he definitely hadn’t realized before this last week without him. 

“I’m not sure  _ scared _ is the right word,” Harry says as he cautiously looks beneath the deck.

“Terrified? Frightened? Alarmed? Fearf--”

“Fine. He makes me slightly nervous. Now, do you want my help or do you want to keep busting my balls?”

Harry pulls the garbage can away from the house to look behind it.

“Can’t I have both the help and the--balls?”

Harry accidentally knocks the garbage can to the ground with a clatter. “Uh--yes, you can have--whatever you want.”

“Good.” He can feel Harry’s gaze and attention on him, which he’s finding both pleasurable and a problem seeing as how they need to find Chad. “Okay, we just need to think like a monitor lizard for a minute. Where would I go if I was a monitor lizard?”

He stares at the deck for a minute where they had been soaking up the sun, and he realizes that Chad may have gotten too hot sitting there. “Maybe he went off looking for a cooler area. Let’s check shaded areas.”

Harry finally stops his intense staring to glance back into his own yard. “Do you think he could have gotten as far as that tree?”

“Maybe?”

Harry goes over to investigate as Louis starts walking towards the side of the house. He hears a muffled, “Aarrgh!” from the vicinity of Harry’s tree and starts running towards the sound.

Harry is standing next to the far side of the tree looking a bit peaked, but dutifully keeping Chad from going anywhere. Not that Chad appears to be moving. He’s camped out under the tree ignoring them.

“I guess he got hot then and started looking for a cooler spot,” Louis says as he squats down to pick him up. “Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for helping me.”

Harry waves him off. “It was nothing, really. I’d help any of my friends do the same.”

“What? Look for their lost monitor lizard?”

Harry laughs and runs a hand through his hair. “Sure. Lost monitor lizards are my specialty.”

“Is that what we are then? Friends?” Louis asks quietly. His heart rate quickens as he waits for Harry’s answer.

Harry looks him dead in the eye and says firmly, “Yes. We are, Lou. Unless you ever want it to be more than that, but until that day comes--or even if it never does--yes, we’re friends.”

Louis looks away from the emotion that flows unbidden from Harry’s eyes. “So I didn’t--mess anything up by going out with Miles?”

Harry lets out a harsh breath. 

“No. There wasn’t anything to mess up, Lou. I know we aren’t together like that, even if everything in me screams that we should be.” Louis can’t help but look back at Harry’s face that twists a bit as he tries to keep control of himself. “I hope that doesn’t make you too uncomfortable to be my friend, knowing that I’ll always want more.”

Louis’ pretty sure if he weren’t holding Chad right now he’d be kissing Harry’s stupidly handsome face, which pretty much clears up some things in his own mind about how he’s been feeling about him. Louis isn’t sure what to say, but Harry keeps going before he can get a word out.

“It’s not just my instincts either, Louis. I promise I won’t keep bringing this up, but I just want to be clear this one time. I want you to know that what I feel for you is real, and it’s not all just an alpha/omega thing. I admit that it probably was mostly instinctual at first, but it isn’t just that anymore. But hey, my instincts are pretty good, I guess.” Harry gives him a wistful smile, apparently believing Louis doesn’t have something to say about this. 

“What’s your shirt made of, Harry?”

“Uh--what? Um, I dunno I--” Harry tries to pull his shirt back and twist around enough to look at the tag on it. 

Louis sets Chad back under the shade of the tree. 

“Now stay there, please,” he says as though Chad’s going to listen and turns back to Harry. “Let me look.

He walks up behind Harry, letting his hands sweep up Harry’s shoulders until he reaches the tag at his neck and pulls the shirt back a bit as though he’s trying to read the tag. He watches the hair at Harry’s neck stand on end. “Hmmmm, just as I suspected.”

“What?”

“It’s made of boyfriend material.”

Harry looks at him dumbly for a second and then his face breaks out in the goofiest smile Louis’ ever seen just before he bursts out into the loudest laugh Louis’ ever heard. “Oh, my god. I can’t believe--you went there.”

Louis grins back pleased with his terrible pick up line. It’s a testament to how much time he’s spent with Harry that he’s even thought up one so awful. 

When his laughter subsides, Harry peeks around Louis’ shoulder and checks to see if Chad’s still in the spot Louis left him. “So um--just to be sure I’m getting these signals right, does this mean you’ll go out with me sometime?”

“On a date?”

“Yes, on a date. A real one and not one of these stealth ones I’ve been taking you on for weeks.”

“You’ve been stealth dating me?”

Harry pretends to think about it. “Mmm--yeah, a bit.”

“Yeah, a real one sounds good,” Louis says as he picks Chad back up out of the grass.

“Really? TONIGHT HOW ABOUT TONIGHT?” It’s the fastest he’s ever heard Harry speak.

“Uh, yeah--tonight. Tonight’s good, I think.” Louis gives him a wink. “I’ll even leave Chad at home.”

/// 

Harry shows up at his front door in a white button down shirt that in Louis’ mind he immediately thinks of as the white shirt of death. The first few buttons are undone and his blue jeans are quite tightly fitted around his long legs. He’s pretty sure he should say hello, but his tongue doesn’t seem to be working properly. 

Harry seems to be staring at him oddly, too. 

“Bloody hell,” Niall says from the couch, cuddled up with Bressie. “I can smell the two of you from here. Jesus. 

“You look--” Harry begins in a strangled voice. “--amazing.”

Louis admits to himself that amazing is what he was going for, and not to brag, Harry hasn’t seen the best part yet. He steps past Harry and tugs his arm. “Let’s go.”

As he walks in front of him, he hears a small whimper and smiles. Definitely what he was going for when he picked out his tightest pair of black jeans. 

There’s no need for the standard first date conversations. Instead, it’s all just a continuation of what they normally talk about: movies, art, food, their families, and lizards, of course.

“You know what I’ve never asked you?”

Louis raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“How the fuck did you end up with a pet monitor lizard?”

Louis laughs. “Yeah, I guess that’s not exactly the most conventional pet. He was my uncle’s first, and I always thought he was super cool. But my uncle isn’t the most reliable guy in the world and ended up not wanting to take care of him anymore. So I convinced my mom to let me take him. I felt really badly about not being able to take him with me to school last year. My mom agreed to take care of him last year, but she said I’d have to figure out something else for this year. Luckily, Zayn’s dad knew a guy who would rent us the house and let us build an enclosure for Chad in it.”

“Lucky for Chad.”

“Less lucky for our herpetophobic neighbor though,” Louis jokes.

“Heyyy! I’m not herpe-whatever-phobic!” Harry insists. “I’m just still warming up to Chad a little. And listen, he’s important to you, so he’s important to me, too.”

The fondness that warms his chest he realizes is quite familiar to him. He’s been feeling this way with Harry for quite some time. As Harry drives them back from the restaurant, Louis knows he isn’t ready for the date to end. 

“How about a darts rematch?” He suggests.

“You’re on,” Harry says, shooting him a wicked grin in the dim light of the dashboard lights. “Winner chooses where to go on the next date.”

Louis’ lips twitch. “Huh, I’ll have to start thinking about where I want you to take me then.”

“How will you know I didn’t just throw the match to con you into going on another date with me?”

“Please. Like you didn’t already know I wanted to go out with you again. Nice try though, Harry.”

Louis demolishes him at darts. Harry does manage to hit the dart board a few times though, which is a bit of an improvement over last time. 

Harry parks the car in his driveway and walks Louis to his front door. They stand on the porch, and Louis sways a bit on his feet. The date has been such a gentle dance between comfort and something more, but now a frisson of electricity sparks across his skin as he watches Harry lick his lips. Harry’s scent intensifies from clean and sharp to heavy and seductive. “Lou?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you religious?”

“What?” Louis asks, taken aback by the question. “Uh--well, I--”

“Because you look like the answer to all my prayers.”

“Oh my god,” Louis says as he bursts into laughter. “You massive dork. I can’t believe I ever thought you were serious with those lines.”

Harry smiles so widely his dimples deepen and the corners of his eyes crinkle. “Got your attention though didn’t I?”

Louis snorts. “Yeah, I guess you always got my attention.”

“Mmmm.” Harry steps closer slowly and carefully reaches for him. Harry’s heady scent surrounds him in a cloud of desire that has come back as suddenly as it had disappeared in their shared laughter. Harry cups his face with one large hand and thumbs across his cheekbone gently. “You are so lovely.”

Louis would return the compliment somehow if he could manage to form words, so instead he leans into Harry’s touch. His heart pounds with want and excitement, but Harry’s moving so slowly. So he grips Harry by the collar of his shirt of death and pulls his lips down to his own. 

Harry immediately takes control. One hand cups Louis’ jaw turning his head to slip his tongue between Louis’ lips as his other hand presses at his lower back, holding Louis into him. He tastes and tastes until he pulls away to stare into Louis’ eyes as though something has surprised him. “You taste like how you smell.”

“Like what?” Louis asks, his voice an unfamiliar husky tone.

“Sweet. Like cotton candy, remember?”

Louis wrinkles his nose, and Harry drops a kiss on the tip. “Have I ever told you how much I like cotton candy?”

Louis rolls his eyes, although he admits at least to himself how pleased he is that Harry has a sweet tooth. 

“Good night, Lou. Tell Chad I said hi.” 

“Good night, Harry. I will.”

Louis watches Harry strut home with quite the swagger. He turns and opens the door and can hear Harry whistling a tune that he can’t quite place. He floats upstairs, touching his lips with the tips of his fingers. They still burn with Harry’s kiss, and he absolutely can’t wait to see him again.

/// 

They decide to take things slowly, which as it turns out is hard to do when the person he’s taking it slowly with lives next door to him. Harry brings him a coffee each morning and walks him to class, he brings him tea to work, and he bakes him treats that he brings him nearly every evening. 

Those evenings generally involve studying together and then watching Netflix or playing a board game. The evenings always end the same however, in kisses that are causing Louis a lot of sexual frustration. It’s fine though. Harry’s worth taking things slowly with, but who would have thought that the alpha spouting terrible pick up lines would want to take things slow? 

The only problem is that Louis’ heat is coming in about a week, and god, he’d really like to spend it with Harry. He’s not sure how he’s going to bring it up with him though. They’ve really only been dating for a few weeks. This is what is on his mind as he walks home from class.

He frowns and kicks a rock a few paces and decides that it’s really too much to ask Harry to spend his heat with him. They’re taking it slow, he reminds himself. He looks up just in time to see he’s kicked the rock into Miles’ shoe’. 

“Sorry,” he apologizes. Luckily, Miles is standing in the quad talking to Zayn, which makes it a little less awkward to have kicked a rock at someone he had to let down easy after a first date. 

Miles gives him a brilliant smile. “It’s fine, Louis. I’m pretty sure you didn’t kick a rock at me on purpose.”

He returns the smile and is just about to ask Zayn if he’s on his way home or going to class when he senses Harry walk up behind him and a shiver creeps up his spine.

“Hey, Lou,” Harry says, his voice dark. “I’ll walk you home.”

Harry’s leading him away before Louis even knows what’s happening. He manages to call out a bye as Harry’s hand presses against his lower back more firmly. Louis looks at him curiously. Harry’s acting weird.

“You’re acting weird.”

“What? No, I’m not,” Harry says, but he drops his hand. 

“You didn’t even say hi to Zayn back there,” Louis points out.

“Oh,” Harry says, and Louis can see a hint of pink in his cheeks. “Um--I’ll apologize later. I--uh--sort of need to talk to you.”

They’ve reached Louis’ front steps. Louis’ stomach drops. “Oh. Okay, do you want to come in or--”

“Yeah. Okay, yeah, I’ll come in.”

He’s attuned enough to Harry to feel the nerves radiating off of him and the slight change in his scent. He’s not sure what to expect now, but he can’t say it doesn’t make him nervous in return. They can hear someone rummaging around in the kitchen, probably Niall. So Louis motions towards the stairs, and Harry nods.

He leads Harry up to his bedroom, feeling like whatever conversation is coming should probably be held in private. As soon as they walk into the bedroom, Louis’ back hits the door as Harry presses him against it, kissing him breathless. It takes Louis by surprise, but it only takes a moment for him to catch up and return the kiss with equal enthusiasm. 

Harry pulls back slightly, and Louis whimpers and tries to pull him back into the kiss.

“Fuck, Lou. I knew we said we’d take this slow, but--”

Louis tightens his grip on the back of Harry’s neck and tries to pull him back again. If Harry’s wanting to have sex of any kind, Louis is definitely ready for it, but Harry unfolds Louis’ arms from around him and steps back, clasping Louis’ hand in his. He tries to catch Harry’s eye to see if he can figure out what the problem is, but Harry stares down at their hands. 

Harry caresses his hand. He turns one over in his large palm and traces the lines he sees there. Louis gasps. It sends a pulse of desire shooting through him, although Harry seems oblivious to his reaction, still a bit lost in his thoughts.

“I want--” Harry clears his throat. “I want you to be my boyfriend, Louis. I know you don’t like the thought of belonging to an alpha, but I just need the words. Not that you’re mine--just that we’re exclusive.”

Louis stares at him, a bit astonished really. “Fuck. Harry, I’m sorry that you thought we weren’t. Of course, I want to be your boyfriend. Boyfriend material, remember?”

Harry lets out a ridiculous alpha growl and turns him from the door, topping him onto the bed. He presses Louis’ body into the mattress as he slants his lips across Louis’ drawing out his muffled moans. He chases the taste of Harry on his tongue, a clean burst of mint that he can’t get enough of as lust pools in his gut.

Harry’s lips release him to press kisses along his jaw and draw his teeth along Louis’ neck until he’s quivering in Harry’s arms. He can hear Harry’s sharp exhale as he breathes in deeply scenting him, but then, Harry pulls back again slotting himself between Louis’ legs, still looming over him in the bed. Louis can tell he’s trying to regain some control as his chest heaves with his breaths.

Louis lets his hands wander to the waistband of Harry’s grey sweatpants. They don’t leave a lot to the imagination. Harry’s cock is already straining against the fabric. He lets his fingers slip beneath the elastic for a moment before letting one hand palm against Harry’s erection. “I seem to remember you had a thing for my sweatpants. Can officially say I quite like how you look in yours, too.”

“Louis,” Harry says his name in a long pained groan as he pushes himself further into Louis’ hand. “God, not sure I can handle the teasing right now. And fuck, no one looks as delicious as you looked in those sweatpants.”

“I’m not teasing,” Louis says as he tugs the sweatpants and boxers down over Harry’s ass and beneath his balls. Harry’s cock springs free of the confines of the pants, and Louis licks his lips and takes a deep inhale of the smell of Harry’s arousal. “I want this. I want you.”

Harry continues to hold his body away from Louis’, the muscles of his biceps taut. Harry holds himself up on one arm as he uses his other hand to cup Louis’ jaw and stare into his eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Harry, I’m going to have my heat next week. I want you to be with me.”

This declaration has quite the effect. Harry’s eyes widen and blaze green flames. He has only a split second of triumph before Harry’s lips crash down on his own. Harry kisses him hard and deeply, and as Harry’s tongue plunges into his mouth, Louis opens his thighs wider in an invitation to press closer. Harry takes the offer and presses his cock against Louis’ still clothed one. 

He lets out a frustrated snort and releases Louis only to sit up on his knees and whip his shirt up and over his head before running his hands up under Louis’ t shirt and pulling it off his body. Then, Harry shuffles quickly back down the bed to shuck off his own pants and unbutton Louis’ jeans, tugging them off down his legs. He sits back looking at Louis’ body as though looking upon a feast. Louis gulps.

And then, Harry mouth is back at his lips and his throat as he presses their cocks together. Louis’ squirms under him as Harry grips their cocks together in his palm and slides them together roughly. Harry pulls his mouth back, so he can look more closely into Louis’ face.

“Fuck, Lou. You’re so beautiful like this--under me like this.” Harry noses against Louis’ neck again and inhales deeply. “Fuck, you smell good, Lou. But I’ve always wondered how you taste.”

Before Louis realizes what he means, Harry releases his cock and begins thumbing over his hole. Louis whimpers and wraps his arms around Harry’s shoulders as he tries to press down on Harry’s thumb. But as fast as the touch comes, it leaves, and Harry pops his thumb into his mouth. “God, so sweet, Lou. You fucking taste so good, baby.”

Louis pulse races frantically now, and he touches Harry in every place he can while still being pinned down by Harry’s heavier body. “Fuck me. Please, please--”

“Fuck,” Harry growls as Louis feels one long finger begin to enter him.

“Yes, yes--” He mumbles trying to press back.

“Fuck, Lou. You’re so wet for me.”

“Want you. Please, Harry--”

Harry sits up suddenly and fumbles for a condom before he hauls Louis towards him as he climbs back onto his knees between Louis’ thighs. Harry’s hands grip beneath Louis’ thighs, drawing them up and over his hips as he teases his cock at Louis’ entrance before slipping himself further inside. 

It’s so much more than he expected. It’s far from Louis’ first time, but it’s the first time he’s had someone he cares so much about and who cares so much in return slowly joining them together. He can see the strain on Harry’s face as he fights to keep control, so Louis uses his legs to push himself more firmly onto Harry’s cock. 

Harry lets out an unintelligible noise of pleasure before beginning to set a rhythm in and out of Louis’ body. Harry seems to look at him in awe as he watches their bodies meld into one. Harry releases one leg only to get a hand on Louis’ cock, which has been laying neglected against his stomach and begins to stroke him in time with his thrusts.

Louis bats his hand away. “Want to come on your knot.”

Harry bows his head until it reaches Louis’ shoulder. Louis would almost think he said something wrong if it wasn’t for the continued thrust inside him, sliding against just the right spot to make him see stars. When he hears a deep guttural noise coming from Harry’s throat, he suspects he may have said something just right. Harry’s teeth press into his shoulder as his thrusts grow more frantic, and Louis’ name becomes a fevered chant. 

Harry thrusts roughly once more with Louis’ name on his lips in a drawn out moan as Louis feels him inside as his knot grows, filling Louis as he gasps at the sensation of having him so fully inside himself. It’s never felt this way before, the emotion as potent as his arousal. Bursts of light flash behind his eyes as he closes them to savor the way Harry makes him feel, cared for, maybe even--loved. 

His eyes snap open at thought, and he watches the way Harry looks down at him. Harry is watching him with something that looks like awe as he brushes Louis’ hair gently away from his face. The pressure builds at the base of Louis’ spine just as Harry slips his hand between them and gently strokes him as though he were made of something fine and rare. His thumb caresses the tip of him, and Louis gasps Harry’s name as he comes between them. 

“So beautiful, Lou. I’ve never felt anything like it. Never been with anyone like you.”

Harry gathers him in his arms as best he can to make them more comfortable while his knot remains inside him as he continues to gently thread his fingers through Louis hair. Louis yawns, blissful and content. He can hardly believe the first thing this lovely, amazing man said to him was a bad pick up line.

“I never imagined myself here with you after that first conversation at the pet store.”

Harry huffs a laugh. “Don’t know what you’re talking about. That was a great conversation starter.”

Louis snorts. “ _ You look like my next boyfriend?  _ Please.”

“Hey, I was right wasn’t I?” Harry smirks.

“I would get up right now if I could.” 

Harry holds him more tightly. “At least I didn’t say, wanna sit on my lap and talk about the first thing that pops up?”

“What--oh my god.”

“Or how about, do you work at Subway? Because you just gave me a footlong.”

“That is disgusting.”

Harry laughs. “There’s a party in my pants, and you’re invited.”

“Stop,” Louis pretends to struggle in his arms as though there was a way to get up.

“If it’s true you are what you eat, I’ll be you by morning.” Harry’s tongue hangs out, and he waggles his eyebrows ridiculously. 

Louis stills and pretends to look thoughtful. “Well, I might like to try that one out.”

 


	4. There Must Be An Airport Nearby Because You've Taken Off With My Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I can't believe I wrote more of this fic, but to be honest, I had no idea when I wrote it that people would respond the way they did to this one. It's the most popular thing I wrote this year, and now it's also my most popular fic ever. My second most popular fic is about a parrot, That's How I Know. So now I wonder if my niche is weird pet fics. lol. 
> 
> This epilogue is dedicated to easy-i for being lovely and supportive and for sending me multiple monitor lizard videos until I agreed to write more of this fic. haha. So you can thank/blame her for this. One of the videos inspired the ending of the fic, so even if that part seems unrealistic, it's actually possible! haha
> 
> Of course, a huge thank you to my beta taggiecb even though she doesn't understand why people like my odd pet fics best. She thinks you're all weird. ;)
> 
> Thank you to everyone who sent me lovely comments and kudos and messages and words of encouragement. All that love is why there's a final chapter of silly fluff here for you in Harry's point of view. Hope you enjoy it! <3

_ A few months later… _

 

Harry whistles a happy tune as he uses his espresso machine. He brought it for anyone in the house to use, but so far he’s the only one who puts it to any use. Alphas and their energy drinks. Harry rolls his eyes at the thought of Bressie’s and Liam’s Red Bulls using up all their fridge space. 

“Are you whistling  _ Bootylicious _ ?”

“Oh.” Harry stops to think and starts whistling again to check. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

He pours the perfectly made latte into a shiny, blue travel mug and smiles at it. He’d probably give it a little kiss if Bressie wasn’t standing there. No big deal. He just really enjoys making things he knows will make Louis smile. 

“Is that for Louis?” Bressie asks just before he cracks open a can of Red Bull and takes a long swig out of it. 

Harry wrinkles his nose in disgust. Those things are so gross. “Yes, it is.”

Bressie wipes his arm across his mouth and then laughs loudly. “You’re so whipped.”

Harry shoots him a dirty look. “Yeah, well, so are you, but the difference is that I don’t mind being whipped. Okay, that didn’t come out the way I wanted.”

Bressie laughs harder. “I don’t need to know this much about your sex life, Styles.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Harry grabs his coat and walks out to start his car to take Louis to class. Midwestern winters are fairly brutal, but Harry’s body runs warm in general, so he doesn’t mind it too much. Louis is always cold though, so he brings his scarf and gloves just in case Louis needs them. 

Once he’s got his car warming up, he knocks on Louis’ door. As he waits for him to answer, he grins to himself in anticipation of what’s about to happen again soon--Louis’ heat. Just thinking about that first heat they spent together makes his blood warm in his veins. And not just because it was the best sex he’s ever had in his life. No, it had been a privilege to take care of Louis, and he understands how amazing it is for Louis to trust him like this. It makes him feel like he is truly Louis’ alpha. Not that he would ever say that out loud because Louis would murder him or maybe rethink their relationship, which he definitely does  _ not _ want.

The door finally opens to reveal a very sleepy looking Louis in his grey sweatpants and a huge sweatshirt that hangs down over his hands that clearly belongs to Harry. Harry’s heart thumps a little harder. He just looks so adorable like this, soft and rumpled with his eyes barely open and in  _ Harry’s _ sweatshirt that still smells a bit like him, mingling their scents together, sweet and citrus. It’s probably a bit comforting for Louis since his heat is so close now.

Louis mumbles a hello, but smiles a little as Harry hands him the latte. Harry can’t help it. He steps forward to kiss the face he adores so much. Louis makes a cute little squeak of a noise that makes him want to bundle him up in bed and never let go. 

Louis has a proper smile on his face now and calls out a goodbye to Chad over his shoulder as he grabs a preposterously puffy blue coat. Harry peeks in at the lizard in his enclosure and tries to keep a shudder at bay. 

Louis sips his latte as he drives him to the science building. He even sips his latte cutely. God, he really is whipped. His heart could burst he just loves this boy so much. 

“So you’re getting lunch with Zayn and Niall today, right?”

“Yes, Harry,” Louis says with a roll of his eyes, but Harry knows he isn’t actually annoyed by the still fond look on his face. “I’ll go straight from my classes to lunch in the library cafe. And then right from my afternoon classes to work. Try not to worry.”

He knows it isn’t his place to ask Louis to take any of these precautionary measures, but the  fact that he does do these things, mostly just to ease Harry’s mind, makes him so grateful and makes him just love Louis that much more. He manages to hold in the words until he gets to Louis’ classroom door, and then, he can’t help himself. He kisses Louis again quickly and says, “Love you! Have a good day!”

Louis smiles at him and kisses him again quickly before heading into the classroom. Harry sighs and heads back outside and towards the library next door. He doesn’t have class for another hour, but it’s worth getting up a little early to take care of Louis. He knows how much Louis hates the bus in the winter. It’s no hardship to drive him to class everyday, so he doesn’t have to ride it. In fact, he enjoys having this extra time with him. When the weather is nice, Louis still insists on riding his bike everywhere. 

He’s been telling Louis he loves him since that first heat, he realizes as he walks up the library steps. He just couldn’t help but tell him over and over how well he was doing and how much he loved him as he knotted him over and over again. After that, he just couldn’t help the words spilling out all the time. Not that he really wants to stop. He wants Louis to know how much he cares for him, how much he loves and adores him. But he doesn’t want him to feel badly or awkward that he can’t quite say the words back yet. 

Harry sighs as he finds an empty table and settles in with his laptop. It’s fine with Harry that Louis can’t say the words yet. Really. Okay, it’s not  _ fine _ , but it’s okay. He understands. Louis just needs a little more time. He’ll just continue being the absolute best boyfriend and alpha he can possibly be for him until Louis realizes he absolutely can’t go one more day without telling him he loves him back.

He feels slightly anxious through the rest of his classes. Louis’ heat is likely to start tomorrow or even tonight based on how strong his scent was this morning. By the time his last class ends, he’s nearly sprinting towards the bookstore to wait for Louis’ shift to end. Yet another thing Louis allows that he’s grateful for. 

Louis’ scent is so overwhelming when he walks it it nearly knocks him over with its pungent sweetness. He gasps, and the smell fills his nostrils and lungs. Fucking hell, his scent must be becoming even more powerful for him seeing as how he knots him on the regular now. Nearly every time they have sex really, he thinks as he smirks to himself a bit. Once he gets a little control of himself, he notices how tired Louis looks and the wan smile he offers up, and his protective instincts kick in. 

“Are you okay? I could call Liam to come finish your shift.”

“Harry, my shift ends in fifteen minutes. I think I’m gonna make it.”

“Right, right. Fine. Yep. Okay. I’ll just sit here out of your way and--” Harry sits on a chair near the entrance and glances at the clock. “Watch the minute hand go around fifteen more times.”

Louis laughs. “Get over here and hug me, you weirdo.”

Harry jumps up so quickly from the chair that he knocks it over as he rushes to Louis’ side. “Hi,” he says with a grin. 

“Hi, now cuddle me please. No one is in here anyway.”

Harry leans down and wraps him in his arms, pressing his nose into the dip of Louis’ collarbone. “Love you.”

“Just don’t get too used to this stuff. You know it’s only a ‘during my heat’ kind of thing, right?”

Harry releases him a bit with a frown. “Of course, Lou. I’m not going to hover over you at work like a knothead. Oh--well, except maybe right before my rut when I get a little--”

“Possessively ridiculous?”

“Yes,” Harry says sheepishly. 

“That’s okay, too.”

When Louis’ shift finally ends, Harry takes him by the hand and leads him out into the parking lot. He loves the feeling of Louis’ smaller hand in his own, and he smiles helplessly at the sight of their fingers intertwined. He glances up at Louis’ face and notices how serious he looks. 

“Hey, Lou?” He asks as they get to the car.

“Yeah?”

“Are you a parking ticket?”

“What? You got a--”

Harry waggles his eyebrows. “Because you have fine written all over you.”

“Oh my god,” Louis replies with a laugh. “You absolute dork.”

The smile from Louis’ laughter lingers on his beautiful face as Harry drives them home, and he thinks the line has done its job. Louis might have been skeptical about him at first because of these lines, but ultimately, they’d helped him win over an omega who had vowed never to date an alpha again. So the bad pick up lines were here to stay as far as Harry was concerned. 

When they arrive at home, Harry follows Louis into his house and has him sit down on the couch with a blanket while he makes him tea and heats up some leftover spaghetti he made them yesterday. He checks on the food and tea and water that he’s stocked up on for Louis’ heat and makes sure Niall and Zayn haven’t been pilfering any of it. He’s expressly forbidden them to touch Louis’ snacks or drinks, but this wouldn’t be the first time they didn’t listen to him. 

He mentally checks off everything Louis will need for the next few days. He’s already placed extra bedding and towels in Louis’ bedroom, and as the spaghetti warms up, he thinks how grateful he is that the bathroom is so close to Louis’ bedroom. Niall and Zayn may not be alphas, but Harry doesn’t want anyone seeing his omega during his heat. He knows how absurd this notion is, but he can’t help himself. Yet another thing he’ll probably just not mention to Louis.

Just as he places the food and tea in front of Louis who gives him a sweet smile, Zayn walks in through the front door just as Niall traipses in through the back one. 

“You okay, Lou?” Zayn asks when he sees Louis curled up on the couch. “You’re not starting early are you?”

“Don’t matter if he is,” Niall says, ducking his head in from the kitchen. “His alpha’s knot is tucked right into those jeans in front of his face.”

“Jesus, Niall,” Louis snorts, and for a moment, Harry thinks Niall is being rebuked. “His knot is too big to be tucked into those jeans.”

Zayn stops himself midway to sitting on the couch next to Louis. “I’m not sitting down if we’re going to start talking about Harry’s dick.”

“Well, we were really just talking about his apparently giant knot, but--” Niall begins, walking further into the room as Zayn starts walking away. “Mate, why are you so offended about Harry’s enormous knot? Don’t Liam have a big enough one for ya?”

Harry sits down next to Louis and tries not to be obvious that he wishes Louis’ roommates would just go away.

“Leave Liam’s knot out of this,” Zayn calls over his shoulder as he heads towards the bedrooms. “I’m just going to go next door for the next few days.”

Niall’s gaze swings back to them, and he eyes them critically. “I’d leave, too, but then there’d be no one to take care of Chad.”

“I can do it,” Harry pipes up.

Both Louis and Niall look at him skeptically. 

“What? I can look after a lizard,” Harry insists. “Just give him food and water everyday. Make sure he has enough mulch. It’ll be fine.”

“I suppose he doesn’t have to go out of his enclosure for a few days,” Louis says, a small frown on his face. 

“And if he needed any help, he could just call me,” Niall says, a finger to his chin as they both think about whether or not Harry is capable of taking care of a lizard. It’s quite annoying. 

“I can take care of Chad! Honestly, you guys are being ridiculous. It’ll probably only be three days at most.”

“Because of your enormous knot?” Niall asks with false innocence. 

“Oh, shut up.”

Within half an hour, both Zayn and Niall pack a bag and head next door for the next few days, which really eases Harry’s mind. Now, he’ll have Louis all to himself and can be assured that no one else will happen upon his omega in heat. 

“Lou? Do you mind moving into the bedroom now? I’m going to take a shower, but I can set you up in bed with whatever you want.” 

“Mmm,” Louis mumbles. Harry can already see more signs of his impending heat. His scent keeps growing stronger, he looks more tired, and his cheeks are flushed. He helps him off the couch and barely refrains from just picking him up and carrying him up the stairs. “Harry, can you just--”

“What, Lou?”

Louis’ cheeks flush a darker shade of pink. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

Harry stops dead in his tracks at the foot of the stairs. “What do you need? Tea? A snack? More pillows? A--”

“Stop panicking and listing every object you can think of. I just--um--I wouldn’t mind if you--you know--”

“What?” Harry is honestly mystified, but he tries not to list a thousand more things Louis could possibly want. It’s hard to tamp down his instincts to go to absurd lengths for Louis during his heat. Hell, it’s hard to tamp it down on a regular day much less when he’s in heat. Or about to be anyway. 

“Carry me,” Louis says so quietly that Harry’s not sure that’s what he really said. 

“Really?” He can hardly believe what he’s hearing.

“Yes, now shut up and don’t get used to it.”

Harry can’t help the wide grin that spreads across his face, but he doesn’t hesitate before he swings Louis up into his arms. 

“Ugh, I feel like I’m in a romance novel,” Louis mumbles with his arms wrapped around his neck and his face pressed against him. 

“Aw, babe, you are though.” Harry loves this feeling, carrying Louis through the house really appeals to his inner alpha in a huge way. “I thought happiness started with an H, but it starts with U.”

“That was terrible. You don’t have to look so happy about this,” Louis groans. “You’re never going to let me live this down are you?”

“I swear to never speak of it again as long as I get to do it every time you have a heat,” Harry promises.

They reach the bed, and he carefully lays Louis on top of it. Louis immediately sprawls out like a starfish. “Not gonna lie. It was kind of nice. Might let you do it when you have your rut. Oh my god. You should see the ridiculous look on your face.”

He can only imagine the look of delight that just involuntarily appeared on his face. He can’t help it though. Plus, Louis looks thoroughly delicious laying across the bed like this, flushed and beautiful. “Do you have a sunburn or are you always this hot?”

Louis groans. “Stop with the lines, or I’m gonna throw you out of here.”

“Even if I have an apparently massive knot that you brag to your friends about?”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Shut up and come cuddle me. You don’t need to shower anyway. Want to smell you.”

Harry beams at the thought that Louis wants to keep his scent as strong as possible. “Okay, be right back. Just going to go grab some stuff from the kitchen.”

He jumps down the stairs two at a time and quickly gathers up some bottles of water and a bag of snacks. He can always come back down to make tea and grab anything else they need. He takes the stairs two at a time on his way up as well. He’s going to get Louis to eat and drink a little, and then he needs to rest in preparation for his heat. All his instincts are in overdrive and to be perfectly honest he loves this feeling, having someone to protect and care for and love. 

He flings open the door and nearly drops everything in his hands to the floor. Louis has taken off all his clothes and is laying down face first on the bed. He can’t help the way the adrenaline courses through his body as he stares down at the golden color of Louis’ skin and the gorgeous curves of his body. He growls as his eyes catch on his luscious backside.

Louis eyes snap open at the growl. “Like what you see?”

He can smell the overpowering scent of freshly spun cotton candy wafting through the air as though he’s inside a cloud of it. He wants to push Louis onto his knees and slam his cock into him. He tries to breathe through his mouth a few times and calm the fuck down. Louis needs to rest, he tells himself. Rest, not fuck. There will be plenty of time for fucking in the next few days. 

“Harrryyyyy--” Louis says in a sing song voice.

“Just give me a second. I need a drink. I’ve fallen for your thirst trap.”

Louis laughs and pats the bed next to him suggestively. 

“Okay, I’m coming in, but just for cuddles,” he warns. “You need to rest.”

“Pshhh, fine.”

Harry climbs on the bed and opens his arms for Louis to clamber into, which he does, nuzzling his face into Harry’s neck. God, it feels so good. He tries to hold the words back for now. He says them often enough as it is, but as they fall asleep wrapped in each other’s arms, he can’t seem to hold them in a second longer. 

“I love you, Louis.”

He’s not sure how long they’ve been asleep when he feels Louis’ fingers wrap around his already hardening cock. It’s at attention and ready for this moment apparently. 

“Lou?” He whispers.

Louis doesn’t speak just moves his nude body against his own in the dim light of the early morning and moans as their cocks slide against one another briefly. 

“Babe, has your heat started?”

“Harry, I need you,” Louis says, his voice raspy. 

Harry lets his fingers brush first against the nape of his neck and travel slowly down the feverish skin of his back until he reaches a place that makes Louis cry out against him. 

“Please,” Louis begs, and who is Harry to deny Louis anything? He lets one finger slide through the slick coating his ass and thighs and slowly enters him amidst Louis’ pleas and moans. Has anything ever sounded better than Louis moaning his name? He thinks not. 

The sweet smell of Louis’ slick fills his nostrils, and he’s just got to have a taste. He quickly slides down the bed and flips Louis’ legs over his shoulders, so that he has the ultimate access to his destination. Louis’ moans and pleas become louder and more desperate as he laps up the slick on his thighs and then lets his tongue enter him roughly. 

Louis is always wet for him, but fuck, during his heats, it’s on a whole other level. He lets himself savor the taste of Louis on his tongue until he feels him tugging at his hair. He looks up at him from between his thighs. 

Louis’ eyes flash in the darkness. “Harry--knot me--now--”

Harry obeys his omega immediately. He flips him over with a thump and coats himself with Louis’ slick quickly before he plunges into him. He slides in so easily when Louis’ in heat and the wet, hot feeling of Louis surrounding him makes him gasp. There is nothing in the world as amazing as being inside Louis, being as close to him physically as he wants to be in every other way. 

God, how he wants to be with Louis in every way. The words begin to fall out of him like the snow falling from the clouds outside as he plunges in and out of him and plasters himself to Louis’ back as though if every inch of their skin touches it will make him feel closer to Louis. His knot begins to form so quickly. Louis feels like heaven and hell, pleasure and torture. And it’s just so much. So, so much to try to make his brain and heart handle as he wraps his hand around Louis’ cock and peppers the skin of his neck with kisses.

“You’re so beautiful, baby. You’re doing so well. So gorgeous for me, Lou. Taking my knot so good, love. God, I love you, Louis. I love you. Love you. Love you.”

There will never be enough words for this boy. This amazing boy who let him into his life. Thank god, he didn’t mess it up with his silly lines and alpha nature. There must be an airport nearby because Louis has taken off with his heart, he thinks as Louis comes into his hand at the sound of all his words. 

He hears the lovely full sound of Louis’ laughter and looks at his profile in the muted light. “Can’t believe you said that while knot deep.”

“Whoops.” He grins. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

He settles back into the bed, fitting Louis to him as his knot keeps them together, and Louis falls asleep. Harry stays up for a bit, just running his fingers through Louis’ soft hair and relishing the way it feels to be joined with him like this and the way their scent mingles in the air. He lets his lips press against Louis’ neck and dreams of the day they’ll be mated. 

He feels like the luckiest man in the world. 

When he wakes again, light has softly filtered into the room through Louis’ curtains, and Louis is sitting on top of him, his eyes hazy. “Lou, I want you to drink some water or something before we have another go, okay?”

Louis whimpers a bit, so he carefully sits up and slides Louis to the bed. And then, he quickly grabs water bottles that are nearby on the floor and hands one to him. Louis takes a few gulps and then tosses the bottle to the floor. 

“Are you sure you don’t want any--oof.” Louis tackles him onto the bed. “Okay, then.”

Louis falls asleep again almost as soon as he comes on Harry’s knot. Harry tries to find a comfortable position for them as he waits for his knot to recede when he spots a photo of Louis holding Chad on the bedside table. Chad. Shit. How many times a day does he eat, anyway? And what exactly does he eat? All things he probably should have thought of before now, but it appears his knot has been doing most of the thinking for him lately. 

As soon as he’s able, he slips out of Louis and the bed and quietly makes his way downstairs and to Chad’s enclosure. He’s sitting next to his fountain just sticking his tongue out. Does that mean he’s hungry? He looks around for a bag of lizard food, but he doesn’t see any. He goes through all the cupboards looking for a bag with a lizard on it, but he can’t find any. 

“Where is your food, Chad?” 

Chad just sticks his tongue out. 

He tiptoes back into Louis’ bedroom and digs his phone out of his pants’ pocket and then tiptoes back downstairs to call Niall. 

“Mate, I don’t want to hear anything about your giant knot right now.”

“Jesus, Niall. I’m not calling you to tell you about my knot.”

“Okay, so whatcha need then?”

“I can’t find Chad’s lizard food,” he says as he peers into the cupboard again. “What color is the bag?”

There’s a brief silence on the other end. “Niall?”

“Did you say,  _ bag _ ?”

“Yeah, I can’t find his lizard food anywhere, and I really don’t want to wake up Louis. He’s understandably tired after all the--you know--heh heh.”

“Right. Well, ONE,  you said you wouldn’t talk about your knot. And TWO, there’s no such thing as a bag of monitor lizard food, he’s not a dog for fuck’s sake. Which leads me to THREE, you can find his mealworms in the styrofoam container on the counter, and you can give him an egg as well.”

“What?” He whispers into the phone, horrified. “I--mealworms?”

“Yeah, and tomorrow I’d mix it up and give him crickets. Oh, and don’t forget to dust them with the vitamin powder. Louis always leaves it next to the enclosure, so he doesn’t forget to dust his food.”

He glances in at the enclosure and sees the powder sitting next to the enclosure. So Niall is apparently not fucking with him that he’s got to feed Chad live insects. 

“Except don’t dust the mice,” Niall warns as though Harry might be thinking about feeding Chad mice of all things. “That won’t matter though. We don’t have any mice right now, so you won’t have to worry about that at least.”

“Mice? Oh god. Are they--alive?”

“Pssshhh. ‘Course they are! Chad’s got to have some exercise, you know.”

“Right,” Harry replies weakly as he stares in horror at the lizard before him. “Of course.”

“You gonna be okay, mate? Do you need me to come over and feed him after class?” Niall asks sounding concerned.

“No, no, no, no. I can do it. I can. Um--thanks. I’ll just--go get the mealworms now.”

“Good luck with feeding Chad then. And your enormous knot or whatever.”

“Uh--thanks.”

He hangs up and finds the styrofoam container and shudders a bit as he walks it back over to Chad. “Hi. I guess you--eat these? That’s pretty disgusting, Chad. Why can’t you eat food that comes in a bag or a can like a normal pet?”

He shakes his head as he tries to dump some worms into the enclosure. Chad comes right over to eat them up, so he scurries back into the kitchen so as not to watch. Ugh. Why does his boyfriend have to have a monitor lizard? Who has a monitor lizard? 

He finds some hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator that he assumes are for Chad as well, so he cautiously returns to the enclosure and sees that the worms are eaten, thank god. “Here’s an egg. Oh wait, I forgot the vitamin powder!” 

He quickly douses the egg and sets it in the enclosure before going to wash his hands. Oh god, tomorrow he has to do crickets. He tries to calm down and make tea to bring up to Louis. He also makes him some oatmeal because to be honest, he just doesn’t feel like making eggs at the moment. 

When he returns to the bedroom, it’s to see Louis’ eyes peeking open at him. “Hi,” he croaks.

“Hi, baby. Brought you some tea.”

“Thanks.” Louis sits up on the bed, settling the sheet over his lap, and sips it a bit before he notices the oatmeal. “Did you put a lot of brown sugar on it?”

“Don’t you think you’re sweet enough already? Kidding. I put a ton of sugar on it.”

Louis eats a few spoonfuls, and then his eyes are already glazing over and he’s whimpering again. He throws the sheet off of himself, and Harry can’t help but stare at his lovely flushed skin and hard cock against his stomach. He can see the gloss of his slick against his thighs and the smell of it makes him dizzy. 

“Harry?”

“Fuck. Just one more bite at least, Lou.” He digs his fingers into his own thigh in an attempt to keep from plowing into Louis as he tries to eat his oatmeal. It’s difficult though when Louis is licking the sugar off the spoon. “Okay, enough.”

Louis giggles as he pushes him back onto the bed. “But what if I’m hungry?”

Harry stills. “Are you?”

“No!” Louis’ eyes glaze over again. “Come knot me again. I’m on fire over here.”

The next day and night pass in a blur of sex and sleep and cuddling with the love of his life, and really things could not possibly get better. Louis will likely be done with his heat soon, his eyes starting to lose their glossiness.

Harry wakes this time to the feel of a tongue flicking against the skin of his cheek. He’d thought Louis’ heat would be over by now, but apparently not. His nose crinkles a bit at the smell of Louis’ breath. He really should have made time for Louis to brush his teeth. He opens his eyes. 

Louis isn’t in the bed. 

Chad’s beady eyes look directly into his, and he screams so long and  loudly and high-pitched that Louis runs into the room, soaking wet with shampoo still in his hair. 

“What the hell--” And then his eyes find Chad in the bed.

“He licked me!” Harry screeches. “And scared the shit out of me! I must not have closed his enclosure right after I fed him those crickets.”

He shudders at the memory of Chad eating the crickets with a loud crunch. And then suddenly, he feels a small movement next to him as Chad climbs onto Harry’s blanket covered lap. Huh, well, that’s surprising.

He looks up and sees Louis’ astonished face. “He likes you.”

Harry smiles. “I guess he does.”

“He never acts like this with anyone besides me,” Louis says hoarsely, a strange look on his face.

“He must appreciate that I’ve been taking care of him.” Harry relaxes a little as Chad sits down and appears to snuggle into him. He never thought of a lizard being snuggly before. Well, Harry  _ does _ enjoy snuggling. 

“Actually, I think he loves you,” Louis says, his eyes shining. “Although probably not as much as I do.”

Harry’s heart pounds in his chest. Did he just hear what he thinks he heard? 

“What did you say?” He whispers. 

Louis is smiling so hard, his eyes crinkle in the corners. He’s naked and wet from the shower, dripping water on the floor, with his face beaming like the sun. “You heard me. I love you. Even more than Chad does.”

Harry’s eyes fill with tears, his emotions so close to the surface. “God, Louis. I--I love you so much. I’ve loved you from the first.”

“I know. And I’m sorry it took me so long to say it back, but I’ve felt this way for a while.”

Harry roughly wipes his face with his arm. “Can’t believe it took having your monitor lizard’s approval before you’d tell me how you feel.”

Louis bursts out laughing. “I promise I love you whether or not Chad does, but I’m glad to have his official endorsement.” 

Harry looks down at the monitor lizard on his lap and smiles. Chad flicks his tongue at him. Maybe he is kind of cute. When he looks up, Louis has a different look in his eyes. He slowly gets on the bed and crawls towards him, his eyes hooded with desire. 

Harry looks at him askance . “Louis, please. Not in front of our lizard.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this, please leave me kudos or comments! And if you reblog the fic post, I'll love you forever! <3 <3 Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading this! I hope you liked it, and if you did, please leave me kudos and/or a comment! And the [fic post can be found here](http://allwaswell16.tumblr.com/post/172826830781/i-didnt-fall-for-you-you-fucking-tripped-me-by), if you want to reblog it for me (please!!) and spread the word about my monitor lizard fic. :) 
> 
> By the way, monitor lizards seem to make terrible pets. 10/10 do not recommend getting one. 
> 
> A huge thanks to my beta taggiecb for holding my hand as always. <3 And thank you to all my friends who have to listen to me complain while I write. I'm sure you're all sick of monitor lizards. Sorry and I love you all! <3 <3


End file.
